Recaps · August 24, 2026

DAIC, August 24: 45 halts and $3.13

• Small cap
• Momentum
• Gap, run and fade
• Main move: the morning
• Halted 45 times
• Float traded 37x
• No news found
• After-hours spike

Float

853,881 shares

Volume

46.54 million shares

Previous close

$0.4260

Open

$1.08 (up 153.5%)

High

$3.13 at 2:04 p.m.

Halts

45 (9:30 a.m. and 9:40 a.m. and 9:46 a.m. and 9:51 a.m. and 9:57 a.m. and 10:02 a.m. and 10:12 a.m. and 10:24 a.m. and 10:29 a.m. and 10:36 a.m. and 10:43 a.m. and 10:48 a.m. and 10:59 a.m. and 11:07 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. and 11:21 a.m. and 11:26 a.m. and 11:36 a.m. and 11:42 a.m. and 11:48 a.m. and 11:55 a.m. and 12:06 p.m. and 12:16 p.m. and 12:22 p.m. and 12:27 p.m. and 12:38 p.m. and 12:50 p.m. and 12:57 p.m. and 1:02 p.m. and 1:07 p.m. and 1:19 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. and 1:42 p.m. and 1:48 p.m. and 1:59 p.m. and 2:05 p.m. and 2:13 p.m. and 2:22 p.m. and 2:33 p.m. and 2:44 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. and 3:02 p.m. and 3:08 p.m. and 3:21 p.m. and 3:31 p.m.)

Close

$1.71

Before the bell

On August 21, DAIC closed at $0.43 on 59,955 shares. That is a quiet day for a stock with 853,881 shares in its float. The data shows no news headline on August 24.

The first trade on the 24th was at 4:07 a.m., at $0.44. After that it was almost silent. Fewer than 1,000 shares traded before 9:25 a.m.

Then it woke up. The 9:28 minute reached $0.65 on 158,526 shares. In the 9:29 minute it ran from $0.57 to $1.16 on 629,751 shares, about 77% of all the pre-market volume. That was the pre-market high, and it was the first time the stock traded through $1.00. 818,603 shares traded before the bell.

The open, a halt, and a bid at $1.26

It opened at $1.08, up 154% from the previous close. In the first second a single trade of 120,472 shares printed at $1.11. Within the minute it cleared the pre-market high of $1.16 and hit $1.26. More shares had traded than exist in the whole float (853,881).

At 9:30:20 it was halted (a volatility pause) with the last trade at $1.26.

This is the part a chart doesn't show you. From 9:30:07 someone was bidding for a lot of stock at exactly $1.26. It peaked at 220,959 shares at 9:30:20, about 26% of the float. That bid sat there through the whole halt.

Trading resumed at 9:40:21. It reopened at $1.60, 27% above where it stopped. A single trade of 253,007 shares printed at $1.60. The bid at $1.26 was now well below the price. At 9:41:02 it was pulled.

Halt after halt, up to $2.45

It was halted again at 9:40:41 with the last trade at $1.75. At that moment a bid for 459,779 shares sat at $1.75, about 54% of the float. It was pulled at 9:42:37, during the halt. The stock reopened at 9:45:41 at $1.90. Two seconds later one sell order took 141,770 shares from $1.82 down to $1.75 across 8 price levels.

Then the halts came in a row. It was halted at 9:46, 9:51 and 9:57 on the way up, and reopened at $2.00, $2.16 and $2.38. The run from the $1.60 reopen peaked at $2.45 at 10:02 a.m.

At 10:02:11 one sell order hit 130,607 shares from $2.39 down to $2.24 across 16 price levels. At 10:02:26 it was halted with the last trade at $2.23. It reopened at 10:12 at $1.88, 16% below where it stopped.

After the $2.45 high

At 10:12:33 an ask wall appeared at $1.73. It peaked at 221,504 shares at 10:12:46, about 26% of the float. One second later the stock was halted again, with the last trade at $1.73. The wall was pulled at 10:15:05, during the halt.

It reopened at 10:22:48 at $1.40, on a single trade of 168,236 shares. Two seconds later one sell order swept 56,005 shares from $1.33 down to $1.25 across 9 levels.

Here's what happened. It bounced to $1.53 and was halted again at 10:24:02. It reopened at 10:29 at $1.50. At 10:29:08 an ask wall appeared at $1.35 and grew to 201,522 shares at 10:29:16, about 24% of the float. Six seconds later it was halted again. The wall was pulled at 10:30:32.

It reopened at 10:34:22 at $1.22 and hit $1.13 at 10:34, down 54% from $2.45.

Two more swings: $2.34 and $2.59

Two more halts followed at 10:36 and 10:43. At 10:48 it was halted with the last trade at $1.68. It reopened at 10:58 at $1.44, 14% below where it stopped. By 10:59 the day's volume was ten times the float.

From there it was halted 4 times between 10:59 and 11:21 on the way up. It reopened at $1.54, $1.84 and $2.12, and then at $2.31 at 11:26. At 11:14:02 one buy order took 66,418 shares from $1.99 to $2.04 across 6 levels. From $1.45 at 11:04 it ran to $2.34 at 11:26, up 61%.

Then it fell to $1.53 at 11:41, down 35% from $2.34. It climbed again to $2.59 at 12:05, reopening from a halt at $2.58 on a 142,742-share trade. Then it fell to $1.81 at 12:37, down 30%.

The push toward $3

At 1:38:17 a buy order swept 69,720 shares from $2.97 up to $3.02 across 6 levels. After a low of $2.61 at 1:47 p.m. it climbed again, and at 1:57:49 another buy order took 67,658 shares from $2.96 up to $3.02 across 7 levels. Both sweeps stopped at $3.02.

Here's what happened. It reached $3.13, the high of the regular session, at 2:04 p.m. At 2:05 p.m. it was halted with the last trade at $2.95. It reopened at 2:10 at $2.82, 4% below where it stopped.

Then it was halted 4 times between 2:13 and 2:44 on the way down, each reopening lower: $2.70, $2.45, $2.10, $1.90. At 2:33:12 an ask wall appeared at $2.30. It peaked at 219,284 shares (about 26% of the float) and was pulled at 2:44:28. At 2:44:26 another appeared at $1.99. It peaked at 209,708 shares and was pulled at 2:46:51.

The fade, then the after-hours spike

It fell to $1.89 at 2:49 p.m., down 40% from $3.13. It came back once more. At 2:58 p.m. it pushed to $2.48, a lower high under the $3.13 top.

From there it faded. The last halt ended at 3:36:56. At 3:38:15 one sell order took 63,146 shares from $2.06 to $1.98 across 9 levels. It hit $1.64 at 3:52 and closed at $1.71.

By the close, 31.68 million shares had traded: the float changed hands about 37 times, and the stock was halted 45 times.

After hours it ran from $1.46 at 4:06 p.m. to $6.26 at 5:19 p.m., up 329%. The 5:19 minute alone traded 1,038,948 shares, from $2.37 up to $6.26 and back to $4.80. By 5:20 it had traded as low as $3.72. After-hours volume was 14.03 million shares. The data shows no headline.

What to take from it

• Halt reopens could be thin. At some reopens a 5,000-share market buy cost far more than the screen price ($191 at 9:40, $384 at 11:20, $2,340 at 2:04 p.m.); at others it cost nothing extra.
• After the top, the next push stopped lower. $3.13 at 2:04 p.m., then $2.48 at 2:58 p.m.
• Most of the regular-session move was gone by the close. It closed at $1.71, 45% below the $3.13 high.