Could be many reasons for high volumeNext week will likely be the last week you can get cash for your shares on the day of your trade. I expect if the deal goes through then at some point the trading will be permanently halted and you just have to wait a few more weeks for settlement and then a few more months for your last bit. So if the first payout is about 31-33 cents with a fial payout of another 2-4 cents many people may not want to be tied up waiting for that, so they waited as long as they could hoping for the open market price to get to 30 cents or so and it has not happened, now they just want out and will likley take 28-29 to do that. These are traders that know how to deploy that money elsewhere for faster returns. H e l l even I considered it.