Brokers run the bots (software) to try and push the SP down. The bots will generally sell small parcels at 0.5c lower than the SP.
They will also place large, fake sell orders a couple of cents above the SP. These Cappers (bids) are pulled if the SP moves to that price, and are moved around each day, effectively capping the SP.
They force the SP down. Each time the SP goes down it hits stop-losses and margin calls, and retail investors are forced to sell, which facilitates a further drop in the SP. This creates panic amongst some retail investors who also sell.
The strategy is to accumulate large parcels of stock at a discounted SP - as used by Instos and Sophs.
Effectively a tree-shake - get retail investors to sell and buy their shares on the cheap. Once they have finished accumulating they will generally remove the capper bids (and stop shorting the stock) and let the SP run.
MMJ Price at posting:
38.5¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
