Sorry you took it that way, not intended.....Just trying to emphasize these Market Makers are responsible, by their nature, for the flow, up and down, (as you know) of whatever security they market....By that nature they can do whatever they wish....(common practice: breaking down a sell or buy order into 4 or 5 different orders to ramp down or up the PPS)

The legality of a stop/loss order may be in question but it is a known fact, (at least I know) that orders may be ``off the books`` but still there and still acted on....

This entire way of doing business is so loose as to be chaotic...It all depends on the honesty and self interest of the MM....How many are you aware of that their self interest is not paramount, not their honesty and above not the interest of the individual investor...