I don't understand why someone would buy and sell at the same time

[GeniuSxBoY]

I don't understand why someone would buy and sell at the same time. 1 time is an accident. 2 times is a face palm. 3 times is on purpose

What is the strategy here?

[jl2012]

Why would you think it's the same person buying and selling?

[xorglub]

Create panic ?
Gox lag > 1 min ?
Some chinese kid doesn't understand limit orders ?

[phlogistonq]

4 times now. Agree there is a pattern.
Buy everything to $124...sell a bit to make the price drop, wait a bit for new orders to fill in the gap, and rebuy everything to $124

Maybe just someone trying to buy as much as possible below $124 before boosting the price through $125?

[oakpacific]

Bot gone wild maybe.

[NamelessOne]

Could be bot gone wild, could also be someone that doesn't have the funds to buy anymore, thus they sell a ton, and immediately buy a bunch more in an attempt to eat through the 125 wall. They kept trying to do this and appear to have failed miserably and people just started throwing asks up to 125 and made the wall even more massive, lol.

[Hawker]

Could be bot gone wild, could also be someone that doesn't have the funds to buy anymore, thus they sell a ton, and immediately buy a bunch more in an attempt to eat through the 125 wall. They kept trying to do this and appear to have failed miserably and people just started throwing asks up to 125 and made the wall even more massive, lol.

But even if they get though 125, they have lost a ton of money on the trading fees.  How can they actually make a profit on selling at 124, buying back at 119 and then doing that repeatedly?

[NamelessOne]

Could be bot gone wild, could also be someone that doesn't have the funds to buy anymore, thus they sell a ton, and immediately buy a bunch more in an attempt to eat through the 125 wall. They kept trying to do this and appear to have failed miserably and people just started throwing asks up to 125 and made the wall even more massive, lol.

But even if they get though 125, they have lost a ton of money on the trading fees.  How can they actually make a profit on selling at 124, buying back at 119 and then doing that repeatedly?

Their hope is that they have so much money, and so many BTC, that when the price rises up to 130-140-150, the trading fees they incurred would mean nothing compared to the profit they now have.

[Hawker]

Ah - so they have deep pockets then as it looks like over $1 million has been spent.

[Quantum_Negatum]

Possibly the only purpose was to create the illusion of volume.  Over prolonged periods, volume may be interpreted as consolidation, encouraging buyers. Short bursts of volume as panic, encouraging selling.  A burst might also be intended to trigger bots, some of which trade based on volume activity in addition to price.

[smoothie]

Reminds me of PirateAt40 lol....such a fail trader...

[arsenische]

Possibly the only purpose was to create the illusion of volume.  Over prolonged periods, volume may be interpreted as consolidation, encouraging buyers. Short bursts of volume as panic, encouraging selling.  A burst might also be intended to trigger bots, some of which trade based on volume activity in addition to price.

Isn't it easier to generate volume without moving the price? Just 2 big orders (buy and sell at the same price) could do it.

[arsenische]

Wouldn't that be more expensive?

I don't know. If price is fixed, you pay only predictible fees (and get discount from mtgox). If price is moving and the lag is ~1 minute, then it depends on other players' behavior. Obviously speculators that stabilize the price win (and thus the manipulator looses).

[Quantum_Negatum]

Wouldn't that be more expensive?

I don't know. If price is fixed, you pay only predictible fees (and get discount from mtgox). If price is moving and the lag is ~1 minute, then it depends on other players' behavior. Obviously speculators that stabilize the price win (and thus the manipulator looses).

Perhaps the manipulator wants the price to move to trick those trying to snipe the bottom?  I dunno.

[GeniuSxBoY]

"to get the discount from mtgox"

sounds like the best answer to me by far.

[damnek]

"to get the discount from mtgox"

sounds like the best answer to me by far.

Can't tell if serious.

[GeniuSxBoY]

You have a better explanation for an incentive to sell low and buy high multiple times?

[Hawker]

You have a better explanation for an incentive to sell low and buy high multiple times?

No-one does have a better explanation.  But that does not make your hypothesis valid.  We don't know what is going on.  Someone unloaded over 4000 Bitcoin at 116 when the market price was 119.  Someone then bid the market price up to 124 for about 30 seconds, clearing all asks below that point.

No single player can justify the losses in those exercises by getting lower mtgox fees. 

At least you have a theory though.  I'm baffled.  

[rebuilder]

What was the volume on those buys?

If a sell clears the bids downward a good way and the asks don't follow, anyone buying would create such a spike.

[damnek]

You have a better explanation for an incentive to sell low and buy high multiple times?

Why would anyone do it that rapidly, creating a huge spread? It makes no sense at all.
My assumption is that this has to do with either IGmarkets or plus500 who offer spread betting. They can wipe out their customers easily this way, collecting money on that end, while just spending a bit on MTGox.
Another option is just a bot going nuts.