Did anyone see the action in ONVI today? As the sole market analyst for this stock, of course, I have to check the details on it from time to time.

It was a typical day. Dead, 0 volume, until sparks fly in the last hour of trading. What does it tell you about this stock that it just sits there, on a day when all the indexes are off 2% or more, until someone feels like gaming it just before close.

There is no volume on this stock except for the 100 share bids that jerk the price all day. I will demonstrate that when one of these bids sells through, there is nothing but air under the stock. We saw a good example of this today.

Let's take a look. All times are EDT, quotes from Yahoo! Finance:

Just before 12:40 pm -- yaaaaaawwn
Bid: 4.16 x 200
Ask: 5.05 x 100
Volume: 0

12:52 pm -- snore
Bid: 4.16 x 200
Ask: 5.05 x 100
Volume: 0

1:30 pm -- here comes our gamed bid. Someone woke up and decided that TODAY WAS THE DAY he just needed to buy some sweet ONVI.
Bid: 4.82 x 100
Ask: 5.05 x 100

2:49 pm -- he continues slowly to inch up his bid, now a nickel over 4.90 open.
Bid: 4.95 x 100
Ask: 5.05 x 100

2:57 pm -- OH BOY! a real seller steps up to the plate.
Bid: 4.95 x 100
Ask: 5.02 x 3500
Volume: 0

2:59 pm -- someone sneaks in at $5. Hmm, why does the 3,500 bidder insist on the .02 premium? It's only $70 on a stock that is headed to $2.
Bid: 4.95 x 100
Ask: 5.00 x 100
Volume: 100

3:22 pm -- the $5 seller is exhausted with his 100 shares
Bid: 4.95 x 100
Ask: 5.02 x 3500
Volume: 100

3:07 pm -- the bid increases! $5 is in sight!
Bid: 5.00 x 100
Ask: 5.02 x 3500

3:15 pm -- Oh it's getting exciting now!
Bid: 5.00 x 100
Ask: 5.01 x 200
Volume: 200

3:27 pm -- someone swoops in under these penny bidders to sell some more.
Bid: 4.95 x 100
Ask: 5.00 x 300
Volume: 500

3:32 pm -- ONVI session is sizzling with 1000 shares traded!
Bid: 4.95 x 100
Ask: 5.00 x 200

3:33 pm -- Uh oh, the bid is ... breaking ... down ...
Bid: 4.83 x 100
Ask: 4.95 x 100
Volume: 1400

3:34 pm -- FOLKS, THIS IS THE TELL -- once we exhaust these little 100 share play bids, there is NOTHING, NO SUPPORT, NO BID, NOTHING, all the way back to $4.24:
Bid: 4.24 x 100
Ask: 4.89 x 100
Volume: 1800

3:35 pm -- The slip above was quickly corrected, and the limp 100 share bid was back up.
Bid: 4.88 x 100
Ask: 4.92 x 200
Volume: 1900

3:37 pm -- We're selling a few shares, but the stock is off .08 from the open now.
Bid: 4.83 x 100
Ask: 4.86 x 300
Volume: 3300

3:41 pm -- Slowly bid it back up to 4.90, maybe even close it higher.
Bid: 4.83 x 100
Ask: 4.91 x 1400
Volume: 4900

3:42 pm -- Looks like the last one here is our 5.02 seller. For want of .02, he has the pleasure of keeping his ONVI for one more day.
Bid: 4.89 x 200
Ask: 5.02 x 3500
Volume: 5100

3:48 pm -- Now that the hour of fun is over, we return to our standoff, with a giant gap between bid/ask on this illiquid stock.
Bid: 4.40 x 100
Ask: 5.46 x 700
Volume: 5800

Folks, this is not healthy. I'm looking forward to the earnings release later this week. We need some fundamentals to trade this ONVI on, instead of intraday games.

Right now I see maybe one buyer for this stock, slowly accumulating 100 share units at crucial points to try to keep the issue afloat. That's the way it appears to me.