Jun. 17 at 2:53 PM
$MBAK @NoseToTheGrindstone
MBAK opened 9:30:00 with two fills at
$0.047 — 17x yesterday's close of
$0.0027. No bid was present pre-market, only a placeholder ask.
Market makers routinely widen spreads pre-market for inventory risk management. In this case there was no bid at all — meaning the MM had no interest in acquiring MBAK inventory at any price, but was technically willing to sell at an inflated placeholder level.
When the session opened, market orders queued pre-market swept that ask automatically. Both prints cleared within one second before the ask reset to
$0.0028.
This is not a buyer seeing value at
$0.047. It is two market orders filling against a nominal quote with no real depth behind it.
In thinly quoted OTC names, market orders at open can fill against placeholder asks.
