Some online brokerages offer a service where the actual quantity...

Some online brokerages offer a service where the actual quantity of the buy/sell order is hidden but the system works to try and manipulate the market in the direction of either the buyers or sellers favour. Commonly called iceberg orders. I purchased 1,000 AKP shares a little while back and my brokerage invoice extended over 5 foolscap pages to record each individual trade, most of which were for 1 share. I have never seen anything like this before and asked the question of the broker and they suggested it was just the way algorithms work when managing the trades, supposedly to somebodies benefit. My brokerage charge was based on the gross value of the trade as you would expect. If you look at todays history of trades for AKP there are a number for 1 share. BobF has often remarked on this issue but nobody seems to care if someone is manipulating what is required by law to be an open and transparent market!