GREY:SLKEF - Post by User
Post by
victor2009on Oct 06, 2011 3:34pm
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Post# 19127024
Trading Pattern
Trading PatternAnyone else curious about the trading activity surrounding this conglomerate's use of the NCIB to try and prop up the sinking share price?
I find it peculiar that the share wallows down to an all-time low, on miniscule volumes, but it still attracts some of the buyers that are evident in the Level 2 information.
Yesterday one house [not one that has been a notable participant in past trading], suddenly decided that it coveted ISM shares so much it jumped the last trade by 12% and bought a whopping $2,000 worth of this gem. This was immediately followed by ISM buying back it's daily bundle of NCIB shares at the newly established price. Today that same house house jumped the last trade by 16% to buy a whopping $725 worth of ISM, under a by-pass trade. This is again immediately followed by ISM picking up it's daily NCIB shares at the newly established most recent price.
The thing I'm wondering about is why such a small time trader doesn't fill his desire to buy a piddly number of shares, by picking up at least some at a lower price. I may have a suspicious nature, but it also seems peculiar that ISM immediately jumps in to buy at the higher price. Part of reason I am cynical about these goings on is that shares were trading two days ago at their all-time low, but on low volume [much of this ISM buy back trades], the price has moved up 20%. This happening in a tough market, with absolutely no positive news on the company.
The NCIB rules are designed so that NCIB activity does not artificially indicate demand at a higher price. The ISM trading indicates that there is a real possibility that under certain circumstances, this desired result is not being acheived. In these last few days, the largest trader has been the ISM buy back agent, and on low volumes the price has moved 20% for no apparent reason. One can only imagine what might happen if there was any under-handed collusion involved. Thank heavens we are protected from such a possibility by the vigilant stock market police.