PCOR the Underdog

Nice to see Petron (PCOR.PS) which has been a battered stock since 2013 rise by +36% in just 1 day.   At 3:15pm, the stock was trading at 7.33 then at pre-closing period at 3:20pm (where At-The-Close orders are being matched), the stocks were being bought automatically at Php10 by foreign broker DBP-Daiwa    Whether it be a blunder of one trader (poor soul) or part of some window dressing activities, this is definitely great news for PCOR stuckholders (sic).

If indeed it was an operational mistake, it's not the first time that it happened within the PSE.   I remember the ALI Super Sale back in August 2010 when the stock's price got sold down by 15% also at-the-close.  Maybe the trader intended to post a GTC Sell  (Good-till-canceled) but instead entered a GTC buy. 

For holders, one cannot ignore the fact that we now have a foreign broker carrying Php41M worth of shares at  Php10 a piece.  This improves the chances of getting out of the price depression overhang set by 2 consecutive private placements in 2014 and the current global oil price rut.  Of course, the next interesting part would be on how the prices will behave on next trading day (Monday, beginning of August).

Chart-wise, this looks like a mean reversion towards the 200-day Moving Average (~1yr horizon).  It needs a bit more push to break the longstanding downtrend.  Hopefully once positive quarterly earnings (despite low oil price) gets out, that could be a catalyst for a positive reversal.