Buy and sell orders up to 3.59.59 pm are executed in real...

Buy and sell orders up to 3.59.59 pm are executed in real time(or should be) as they go through the system. If there is a matching buy or sell, then it's too late to change your mind. Bids and offers between 4.00 and 4.10 pm are shown on the screen but will not be matched and executed until 4.10 pm, so you can change your mind up until then.

So during this ten minutes,you are able to see buy orders way above the last price and orders way below the last price (the overlap) and some brokers, e.g., comsec, will show you the indicative closing price (what it all balances out to).

You'll also see people playing games during this period. For example, you might see a buy order for ten million of some spec share that gets everyone mega excited and then in the last 30 seconds, it gets pulled leaving others who were basing their buys and sells on this perceived demand stranded.

Similar shenanigans go on in the morning before market open. And the old saying is that it is the amateurs setting the price in the morning but the pros sorting things out in the afternoon.

Take care.

Spartz.