Traders — human and otherwise — churned about $91 million worth of Avon Products Inc. stock in the 25 minutes after a takeover filing the company is now treating as a hoax.
That's four times as much as traded all day prior to then, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. More than 12 million shares went off in 19,941 trades during the stretch when the stock went from $6.60 to $8 and then back to about $7.20 at noon, the wildest minutes of the deluge. The rush came in between three separate circuit breakers that halted trading because of the volatility.
"Someone walked away with a big pot of money," said Skip Aylesworth, a portfolio manager at Hennessy Funds in Boston, where he helps oversee about $5 billion. "I wouldn't be surprised if part of the volume is people saying 'thank you very much, Avon,' and moving on."