That is a narrow interpretation of manipulation. Market manipulation was practiced for as long as there was trading. Afterall, robots do not think, they execute orders as 'instructed' by the people in front of the computer screens. It is people who are manipulating the markets, not the robots. The robots are only convenient tools. They don't need robots to manipulate the markets.
When a stock is weak, it does not take much to shake the confidence of shareholders. A well-timed nasty rumour here and there coupled with capping actions is enough to shake a lot of monkeys off the trees.
When the buyers come in and hit prices above $1.40, a ton of bricks will drop taking out the buyers. When it gets below $1.40, the sell orders suddenly disappeared and the stock inches up again only to be met by another brick wall.
ABS has all the symptons of manipulation the last few weeks and it has been quite obvious. While millions of shares are being 'dumped' everyday, millions of shares are being bought at the same time. Everybody knows the only way to make money in the markets is to buy low and sell high (the order can be reversed though but the principle remains the same).
Of course, there could also be a case of insider trading where some people know something nasty is going to happen (or has happened) and are divesting systematically.
ABS
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