Why Does Someone Keep Losing Money On AAPL In The Last Second Of Trading?

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/02/2013 22:54 -0400

Apple

In the last second of trading on January 2, 2013, trades executed more than $3 above existing market prices in Apple Computer Corp (symbol AAPL). These trades were marked ISO, which means the trader submitting the orders wanted to execute at these higher prices. Why? Good question. This has happened before (as Nanex are so excellent at uncovering): see Apple and Google's Last Second.

1. AAPL - 1 second interval chart showing trades color coded by exchange.
Several ISO trades with much higher prices appear from BATS (pink) and NSX (gold) in the last second of trading.

2. AAPL - 50 millisecond interval chart showing trades color coded by exchange. Zooming in from Chart 1.

3. AAPL - 50 millisecond interval chart showing bids, asks and trades color coded by exchange.
The trades execute against existing offers. Coupled with the ISO condition indicates these were intentionally executed at prices significantly above market price.

4. AAPL - 5 millisecond interval chart showing trades color coded by exchange. Zooming in further.

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Wed, 01/02/2013 - 22:57 | 3117420 GMadScientist

Well how do YOU paint the tape?

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:03 | 3117433 Freddie

"Painting the tape" was supposed to be illegal. This is stock market where John Corzine steals $1.5 billion and no one says a word.

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:10 | 3117453 ghengis86

Free Corzine!!!

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:13 | 3117459 BlueCheeseBandit

In some contexts a rallying cry, in this context an accurate description.

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 00:12 | 3117642 Manthong

“An apple trade a day keeps Doctor Ben away."

-Kevin

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 01:15 | 3117765 SnobGobbler

you have the chart, replicate the trade and shut down the algo....noob

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 02:35 | 3117868 Sylvia Plath

Algo's probing algo's, nothing to see here... move along~!

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 02:57 | 3117887 A L I E N

Probably some average joe's retirement account broker giving them the "best" buy price..

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 03:31 | 3117914 Dr Benway

Well at least you have someone looking. In Australia, a whole sector has completely gone over to price manipulation, where every trade sometimes is done at bid during a day yet the share price increases.

Also, major pension fund management companies use funds entrusted to them to ramp their own share prices. Nothing being done about it.

Check out my presentation on fraud in the Australian listed investment company sector:

http://s1144.photobucket.com/albums/o489/_DrBenway/The%20Great%20Austral...

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 07:58 | 3118038 GetZeeGold

Snatch the pebble from my hand grasshopper.

OK....now try again.

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:22 | 3117484 Freddie

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/paintingthetape.asp

http://financial-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Painting+the+Tape

The definitions talk about creating fake volume but this was a bogus buy at a high price to try to drive Apple higher and also show up as the high price of the day. The avg Joe who might own 100 shares would check and see Apple's high price today as this fake buy. They are really trying to pump and prop up Apple. Apple IS the market now.

Corzined!

It is total manipulation and the software is supposed to catch these BS trade orders to insure it does not happen. This is total manipulation. It is so blatant because it was done within milliseconds of the close.

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:25 | 3117494 DoChenRollingBearing

Nanex and Zero Hedge are all that we have left now that the SEC has decided to sleep through all of this or just let the Corzines get away with this.

Bravo Zero Hedge!

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:34 | 3117524 Freddie

Tyler(s) nailed it. I looked at a few charting programs for today and the end of day price for Apple is $555. One trade $6 higher than the real high for the day?

Now here is the question - with milliseconds left - did the HFT or Algo programs see that fake $555 trade as a real trade and kick in to drive up the SPY, QQQ and any other index Apple is in at the close?

This is so corrupt.

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 00:44 | 3117712 Sabibaby

Can we get the name and address of the person responsible for this?

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 03:39 | 3117926 DeadFred

We could give you that info but I doubt that you speak Binary.

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 03:41 | 3117927 DeadFred

We could give you that info but I doubt that you speak Binary.

It seems that I can post Binary

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 07:47 | 3118081 saturn

It's the Bernank address.

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 00:57 | 3117736 Navymugsy

I wondered why AAPL had popped so suddenly at the end. I trade iron condors on AAPL but I never look at the stock action at this depth. Glad you guys are watching my back!

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 02:16 | 3117855 ACP

Anyone try putting in short sale order 5 mins before the close several dollars above current price and then buying the shares back in AH?

I'm fairly 'plain vanilla' with my trading, so I don't know if there are any retail platforms that will allow this.

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 03:29 | 3117913 WTFUD

Hands Up been caught with my fingers in the till; banged to rights! my brief says your up before Judge " Did not go to Cambridge the Right Dis Dishonorable send him down " Cuntis Amoris. Plead guilty and throw yourself at the mercy of the court and you'll get 3-5 or bung me $100k plead a Corzined and you might be lucky get a suspended sentence, recover your costs and an OBE.

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:22 | 3117490 kliguy38

Agree.....anyone that can buy that kind of ass just to walk on the beach is my kind of guy..........of course he's using my money but WTF he's got more free time than I do.......

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 09:04 | 3118177 ptoemmes

He is free.

How about this (work with me).

Corzine for USDOJ AG

Oh the irony,

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:08 | 3117447 ball-and-chain

The whole market is nothing but fraud.

What you need to make money is insider information.

If you don't have it, you'll get fleeced.

http://www.angrysinner.blogspot.kr/2013/01/yesterday-dragon-lady-served-hormel.html

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 22:59 | 3117426 LongBalls

Maybe the sheep do like the sheer?

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:08 | 3117427 ZFiNX

Probably some kind of dumbass trading strategy. Ignore.

Only a whale of a retard would think they could paint the tape of f***in AAPL.

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:02 | 3117430 zorba THE GREEK

Just more proof of a rigged market

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:02 | 3117431 The Master

Joe Terranova you sonofabitch

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:09 | 3117448 buzzsaw99

Ma nipple ation

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 00:58 | 3117739 VATICANT

See you at the party Richter!

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:09 | 3117449 Just Ice

Specific order routing for reason other than most competetive bid/offer?

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:14 | 3117463 FinalCollapse

Someone is trying to pull Carly Fiorina trick? She had a habit of painting the HP tape just before her stock based compensation was calculated. Can someone check when AAPL calculates the stock based options for their execs?

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 03:52 | 3117937 Dr Benway

Yeah that is standard procedure in Australia too. Executive share plans can be constructed so that the shares to be awarded are bought on-market PLUS no shares need actually be awarded but the ramped price just used for the calculation of cash compensation. The more illiquid share the better.

There is even a euphemism for share price self manipulation, they call it 'capital management' lol

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:15 | 3117467 W74

BIGGER PICTURES!!!

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:18 | 3117475 DJ Happy Ending

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:19 | 3117481 devo

Maybe someone entered the wrong amount.

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:26 | 3117504 Freddie

I doubt it. The software on most trading platforms should catch it. I think the software will look at the current market and if the market price is lower then you get the lower price.

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:37 | 3117521 devo

Yeah true, but I think with some brokers/software you can skip trade confirmation, so maybe this trader was set up that way and placed a limit order, and the seller/algo raised the ask within nanoseconds to meet it?

Or Bernake is in there jacking up prices (i.e. Occam's Razor).

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:40 | 3117544 Freddie

I hear you but the mistake happens at the very last second of the day? Joe six pack and millions of chartists will look at Apple and think today's high was $555 when it was really closer to $549 or so.

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 01:32 | 3117566 Freddie

I cannot see Tyler's charts too well but it looks like volume surged too. My guess is alogos/HFT/program trading programs kicked it in. They probably kick in when volume spikes or a stick moves up a little bit. This was an almost exactly 1% "move." Only one trade but those programs are probably watching for this. They probably all bought but they got the market (lower) price.

Mission accoplished by the scum who did this. They create a fake $555 close when it was really about $549. The second objective was probably to create a volume spike at the close. Whomever did this deserves what Mussolini got.

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:49 | 3117581 devo

Yeah, definitely bizarre.

I'd love to hear theories as to who is doing this (unless we all assume it's that fuckhead Bernake).

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 00:07 | 3117626 GMadScientist

More likely that fuckhead, Tim (Cook, not that elf motherfucker).

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 08:23 | 3118113 Acet

In a normal trade, if the exchange can match you to a better price (lower buy price or higher sell price), then the trade will be done at that price.

These trades went in with a special code marking them to be executed at the specified price even if in the market there were open sell orders at a better (lower) price. I very much doubt that any mainstream trading platform would even allow you to set any such codes, since there is no reason (other than market manipulation) to purposefully execute a trade at a price worse than the best market price.

Somebody went our of their way to make sure that these buy trades were executed at a price 1% above the market.

Wed, 01/02/2013 - 23:23 | 3117493 Insideher Trading

Braeburn.

Thu, 01/03/2013 - 03:46 | 3117934 Wakanda