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...fall today as a tiny Uncrossed Trade (17 shares) went through @ 73p just after the closing bell yesterday

The existing shareholding for Mars seems quite broadly based (which makes it hard for any bidder to do a "back room deal" with one or two major shareholders):

Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers Ltd. 45,292,000 7.14%
Norges Bank Investment Management 15,690,000 2.47%
The Vanguard Group, Inc. 15,460,937 2.44%
M&G Investment Management Ltd. 15,024,000 2.37%
Hargreaves Lansdown Asset Management Ltd. 13,952,000 2.20%
NFU Mutual Investment Services Ltd. 13,361,627 2.11%
Sanford DeLand Asset Management Ltd. 12,419,000 1.96%
BlackRock Fund Advisors 12,144,000 1.92%
State Street Global Advisors, Australia, Ltd. 12,089,000 1.91%
Capital Research & Management Co. (Global Investors) 9,291,379 1.47%

For many long term holders, an opportunistic bid at these levels will be a disaster.

Quite a few chunky sales gone through today as well. Unless these are trades agreed between two parties, I don't know how same are passing through without shifting the share price

What OPTI need is traction on the back of articles like this (published widely across the national press, not just the Daily Mail):

A person's gut microbiome may play a role in fighting off coronavirus infection and preventing severe Covid-19 symptoms, according to new studies.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-9137823/Bacteria-GUT-affects-Covid-19-severity.html

Re today's RNS, amazing how some obscure (to me) Canadian finance company think so highly of ECK they've increased their already substantial holding.

Why would any firm in Canada have even heard of a small British company like ECK, let alone piled a load of money into?

Canaccord's recent notifiable acquisition equates to circa 1m shares, quite an achievement against a background of fairly low liquidity without moving the share price.

..perkier today,

Surprising what a couple of friends and family buying in can do, or maybe just a return to positive sentiment after Tuesday's sell off?

Been some funny trading going on today. At last count, 33 of today's 57 trades going through at 64.51.

Like some trade-bot crunching away in the background.

Otherwise, steady away RNS, typical for ECK

Seems like, during lockdown, Marston's brewing facilities have been going full tilt. The big majority of their product being sold in cans/four packs.

Price per 4X circa £4-4.50 (haha, Alleluia Moses to that).

So, what does it cost, ex works, for a 4X pack, must be a few 10s of pennies?

Hi Noel, I can chat if you want but I don't do charts as I believe charting for small, lightly traded, stocks is just pure mumbo-jumbo.

ECK is a small IT stock and, unlike many other UK companies that are drowning in debt, they have cash in the bank, are mainly Covid impact free and have exposure to UK and US markets. Also, unlike much of the basket case AIM market, they pay a modest but steady dividend.

ECK have been growing fairly organically for a number of years. They might carry on as they are (which is a long term bet), or might attract a bidder/private equity interest which will give a step change boost.

All the average investor can do is wait for:
a) a bid
b) progressively improving sets of results

Otherwise, my end, not much more to say I'm afraid

fairly light trading so far this week
yesterday: 15 trades amounting to £46k
today: 22 trades amounting to £180k

Apart from a handful of lucky punts, AIM has been an absolute disaster for small PIs. I'm now wondering if the so called "junior market" is due a nasdaq style re-rating (with AIM's preponderance of tech/bio-stocks). According to today's Times, since Covid, the market for mini-stocks has out-preformed the FTSE 100 and is on course for a full (pre-Covid) recovery.

Only a thought but if Opti get caught up in the same whirlwind?

the whole of the trading day has been riddled with horsesh*t/penny/h'penny two-bit trades, just to bounce the price around

Gibsonj45, ok but London Stock Exchange had it down as a "N".
N = Non Protected Portfolio
Amounts to the same thing though, a tiny trade goes through, around close of play, at an artificially high figure. Then, when the market opens the following day, a large PC drop is flagged up. As if to "frighten the horses".

yesterday's "micro-trade" @ 58.8p wasn't identified as an UT

Opti share price still down at the mo but seems to be firming up

OPTI are down >10% this morning is that a horsesh*t trade went through at close of play yesterday comprising two shares @ 55.8p/ea

The last trade today went through at a relative high ball price of 56p and comprised 2 shares that changed hands for a total consideration of £1.12.

If the last trade today sets the benchmark for tomorrow, then there may be an exaggerated percentage drop flagged up (as opposed to using one of the other 99.999% of trades that went through @ <56p)

..but if Capita can be restored to a more secure financial footing, will this increase the likelihood of a bid for ECK?

https://www.cityam.com/capita-share-price-jumps-on-reports-of-private-equity-bid/

..reason to maintain good gut health?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-07/covid-19-patients-may-have-prolonged-gut-infection-study-finds

if anybody else is curious, you can go on the main London Stock Exchange website and download an excel (csv) list of trades and see where this is coming from (i.e. a seemingly large share price fall expressed in % terms vs little or no trade and a steady share price around the 54/55p mark).