If it is bots, here's some thoughts posted by Freehold on the subject, might be interesting to some (not that i'm saying there are bots on VEC, just general information). Broker data usually confirms accumulation in short order, but not many people have access to it... doing comparisons on the T20/registers at various dates is the only other way to keep tabs on it otherwise I think.
Well I've seen a lot of bots in my time and mostly they are there to either artificially prop the price or hold down the price until the professional can get their fill or offload their holding. There are different types of bots ... Usually they are driven by some form of algorithm which dictates the time/price and amount of purchase/sale order. They have no brokerage charges either. Here's a quick overview of the broad classification Ive noticed in my travels. This is not a complete list just the more common ones. So..here goes.
1. The Price Capper: A series of small sells for the same or similar parcel size which has the affect of artificially holding down the price... then every now and then when the sell Queue builds up a a big buy comes through and line wipes the sellers. On average the bot operator will be able to enter at a lower average price. Some time the bots work in tandem with large dummy sell orders to feign buyer weakness
2. The Price Propper: Essentially the opposite of 1.
3. The Confusion Bot: ... Sends a flurry of small sells and small buys frequently IE several a minute. Ive seen this happen over a series of hours or days on some stocks. It has the affect of just muddying up the waters and causes the smaller investor to just sit back and watch as they try to figure out whats going on....So the confusion Bot just buys time for the larger investor by halting in the trend action...just like a pause button on your TV. That is until they are ready to enter/exit.
4. The Accumulation Bot: Is just that, a Bot designed to accumulate a position under the radar but as quickly as possible ...It is most effective when a stock is actively traded and the BOT trades can be cloaked in amongst other trades. IE difficult to see. These are usually Id'd by their bigger parcel size than other Bots...
5. The Distribution Bot: Opposite of 4.
6. Variable Bots ...By far an away the most sophisticated and effective IMO... Denoted by differing parcel sizes different time frames with the use of dummy prop buy orders and dummy sell orders. Almost undetectable.
BOT Wars: Often you will see combinations of the above when two or more competing or colluding institutions initiate bots on a stock at he same time...If institutions are competing it will usually come down to the one willing to be more aggressive in a certain direction. Note: Accumulation/Distribution bots usually cease once they have been outed as they rely on stealth... usually once people see an accumulation bot in action they will begin drive the price higher quickly.. which promptly drives the price up out of the range of the bot.. so they start and stop regularly. Start on price weakness stop on price strength.
VEC Price at posting:
2.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held