BB.....yesterdays price and volume action I think that the buying was, large blocks covering or accumulating. Retail (more likely) or institutional that shorted at the high of the day may find difficulty covering as the volume was on the upside with VWAP being $2.64. Soon as the stock hit $2.50 during the last few days the margin was removed for the shorts which was additional $3.25 when the stock was below $2.50 plus from where thay had shorted.
For over 100 trading days below $2.50, how much was covered be it SWAPS, naked shorts or SI is unknown as they get rolled from one into the other. However, the financial metrics of the BB have improved and going in to Q3 getting closer to being cash flow positve becomes problematic for the shorts. The short volume yesterday was ~4M...did that get covered by end of day? I have my doubts as the buying momentum and volume continued until the 12.5 to 13M shares were traded and then it all dried up with back and forth trading for the next few hours with some volume in the last 40 minutes. How many shares were harvested is the big question especially when everyone seems well versed about the stock.
For three weeks prior when the stock was below $2.50 it seems that covering was happening as the volume had increased but the options showed that large blocks of puts were being written deep in the money so that the shares get assigned but this was done over several expiries and some with sucessful with assignment. In fact, last week on Thursday about 5,200 contracts at $2.50 were assigned as was seen from the OI on Friday but this week the puts are probably expiring worthless but the premium received may be used to buy back shares. The volume on the calls at $2.50 has been incredulous daily and since the call holder is the one who decides to be assigned whether ITM or OTM is in control. The holders seem to be exercising the calls daily from the volume seen and the MM needs to buy the shares to cover the shares or FTD. Thus, we should continue on the upward momentum and therefore, HOLD will be the appropiate execution. This is how Nvidia shares rose as shares were unavailble so the buyers were buying calls deep in the money and causing upward momentum. This is how roaring kitty made his monies. Now it is Blackberry's turn!