There may be something more deeply in play.I have been in the...

There may be something more deeply in play.

I have been in the market 50 years.   In the past games have been played and it would be no different today.

Two that I recall was Kerry Packer sold approx 8% of Crown Casino the stock dropped as every one expected him to make a tilt to a takeover, several months later he acquired a 20% stake at a much lower depressed price.  He acquired  the whole of Crown at two times earnings.  At the time the big end of town were cheering how brilliant his tactics were.    I wonder how the small shareholders that relied on broker advice felt.  this was before online trading had taken off big time.

Another one was a company called Extract EXT there was a continual sell down.   Small holders exited at  a  loss, when a takeover finally did arrive (Chinese from memory)  the takeover when through at around $7.50 per share.  Because the shares were continually sold down for months mostly by small holders assisted every day by brokers, sell a small quantity particularly at the end of the day.   If the shares had not been sold down a much higher price would have been paid but the shareholders left did do well but could have done a lot better.   The end buyer acquired it at a steal.

Moral to the story is it is not always black and white, especially when money is involved.