1 million seller, page-13

just a small outside chance this may have something to do with it (I believe a similar sell order hit GBG at the close so there could be something in it):

Opes goes sub-Prime (THE AGE)

* Michael West
* March 28, 2008 - 2:18PM

Just five weeks ago, Opes Prime told its clients that it was "not in strife'' despite the "Tricom fiasco''.

Today its bankers ANZ and Merrill Lynch told receivers they were appointed to Opes and began selling more than $1 billion worth of shares from the Opes loan book into the market.

Laurie Emini, the principal of the aggressive broker, was forced out by Opes this week before a voluntary administrator was appointed by the troubled lender. ANZ appointed its own receiver from Deloitte yesterday to control the prospective wind-down.

Then the regulator ASIC announced this morning it was investigating following "a number of internal stock and cash movement irregularities.''

Like Tricom, which is still trying to find a white knight to take it over, Opes Prime effectively pooled its clients shares then lent them out to professional market players to short them, providing title over the stock to its banker ANZ.

Like Tricom, ANZ and Merrill were the bankers and the securities were not all S&P/ASX 200 stocks. The small company holdings will be hard to offload without driving market prices down dramatically.

It is understood Merrill's and the ANZ's lending is covered by the value of the shares but market speculation has it that the bankers may offload some stocks as low as Opes clients' loan-to-valuation ratios (LVRs) to protect themselves against a further drop in the market.

Hence, the Opes sell-off is rattling market confidence today.