Weird Stock Market Activity: Be AwareThis may shed light on today's meltdown. This is my post on BHP at about 10 AM PST re BHP and the market in general:
"To TLIC_LIBRARY re your request to look at all of BHP’s exchange activities today 2007-08-15
I have BHP's tickers on my Portfolio watch so here you go:
BBL 51.27 DOWN 1.54% VOLUME: 189,351
BHP.AX 33.20 DOWN 5.31% VOLUME: 31M (USUAL: 19M)
BHP 56.44 DOWN 2.15% VOLUME: 1,830,660 (0 TILL 10 AM EST)
BHP is particularly puzzling! I have been watching After Hours and Pre-Market activity on NASDAQ.com and I have seen STRANGE things!
One day within the past week there were at least 30 simultaneous trades of 100 shares apiece. They all registered at the same time in the After Market. Must be the result of some algorithmic trading system?!
This morning in the Pre Market BHP showed over 250,000 shares sold and in large blocks -- yes, sold. Not bought, as in share buyback. This is unrelated. If you check the SEC filings, BHP is still doing share buybacks almost daily, which should be raising share price, not lowering it!
Oh, Lord help us all -- I hope recent declines are not due to rogue Institutional investor activity.
A pattern is emerging where stocks are continually being shorted in large blocks by Institutionals who then profit from rallies by playing it both ways. Yes, this is illegal insider activity but apparently it is spreading like a pandemic.
From what I have read, this is happening because Hedge Fund managers are no longer able to provide traditional returns due to the ripple effects of the sub-prime mess. Instead, they have turned to companies with sound fundamentals and prime liquidity — like BHP — to use insider advantage and raid their hosts’ prosperity without mercy.
Sounds like a conspiracy theory doesn't it? All I can say is that I see it on the Message Boards of every stock I am interested in and verified in Pre and After Hours Market activity.
Then another puzzlement: the market opened and there was ZERO trading on BHP for an hour.
You are right — something weird and possibly major is up.
You say similar inexplicable trading halts are also going on with other big blue chips like GE.
What can we do?
Get out of the way or learn to play the game.
Do you know a good site where I can see the names and amounts of daytime trades?"