management have a lot to answer for, page-78

OK. FWIW this is my attempt at an Idiots Guide to What Is Being Discussed So Far (traders use terms not so easy to understand for a non trader so I am trying to read between the lines).

Please correct and/or clarify if I have got any of this wrong. Apparently - BUT it is not certain - that:

- the seller has been put under pressure by the AOH ann which puts the regulator again on notice that the stock is being manipulated by bots (algorithymic trading) to artificially suppress the share price, and

- the seller is seeking to make their tactics look legitimate, and evacuate the scene. It is not clear if the seller is the same as the bots trader. (background note: links between buyers/sellers and their broker agents are murky in Australia, there could be a broker who is is selling and suppressing a SP on behalf of a buyer, and the buyer and seller could be one and the same: the broker can theoretically act as a shield for them to do this. There appears to be nothing to compel transparency to the market on this point with broker activity, a source of frustration to AOH management no doubt).

So the seller puts all remaining shares for sale in one line, one chunk. This is a form of capitulation (i.e. 'out of clout' comment?). If it looks like a legitimate sale, leaving it there for an extended period would tend to demonstrate it actually is one. That could help making pursuit of them by regulators less likely. (ASIC has a very bad record in the courts lately and would be wary of pursuing a case that is not open and shut, or relatively simple. 'Shades of grey' the ASIC/ASX prosecutors do not currently like).

What usually happens with a big sell order?
Usually a genuine sell order will be broken up into smaller chunks so as to not erode the market price, and not frighten the horses (buyers who might be too scared by a big sell order). This is not the same as bots, trading VERY small amounts of shares, and which can influence the price either way depending on the intention of the broker. The standard view of bots is that they help settle the fluctuations in the share price arising from big buy or sell orders and keep liquidity in the market. But really small orders in some circumstances tend to make this questionable, it all depends on the surrounding circumstances of each case, most of which are complex and difficult to untangle. An unwanted headache for ASIC/ASX in fact.

A non genuine but big sell order can be blockers attempting to halt an upwards trend and scare the horses into removing their buy orders. Once this occurs, they then remove the big sell order fairly quickly, having only sold down a fraction of it. It hasn't been in the market long enough to attract serious enough buyers, but it's been in there long enough to scare the sheet out of the existing ones. This can achieve share price suppression and only sacrifice minimal shares in the process.

The difference with what appears to be happening here:
Putting them in a big chunk like that AND keeping it there for a long time gives a signal that we are out, done and dusted and are genuinely out, no games being played here, nothing to see folks, just keep walking. The big chunk is waiting to be picked up, which an insto is likely to do, and that itself could be pre-arranged.

Why would they bother to do that? Precisely so it doesn't continue to act as a blocker to buyers. It's like covering your tracks and just getting the heck out. Hence the comment to the effect that once cleared, the seller will not be back.

OMG could this mean an end to the bots as well?

Now, THAT would be news...

Hope this makes sense and is somehow helpful to another buy and hold person getting hammered by the market. All corrections gratefully accepted.

DV