Recaps · September 25, 2026

IPST, September 25: four halts, the $4.50 wall, and $4.80

• Small cap
• Momentum
• Main move: the afternoon
• Tiny float
• Halt run
• Wall pulled before the top
• Halted four times
• Float traded 2x

Float

696,891 shares

Volume

1.70 million shares

Previous close

$3.05

Open

$2.98 (up 2.3%)

High

$4.80 at 1:58 p.m.

Halts

4 (10:15 a.m. and 10:26 a.m. and 11:39 a.m. and 2:03 p.m.)

Close

$3.70

Pre-market: almost nothing

IPST closed the day before at $3.05. The pre-market was quiet. The first trade was $3.00 at 4:03 a.m. The pre-market high was $3.07 at 9:01 a.m. Only 764 shares traded before the bell.

It opened at $2.98, down 2% from the previous close. That was the low so far.

Through $3.07

For the first 12 minutes it sat near $3.05. At 9:47 it traded just over $3.12, through the pre-market high. From $3.05 at 9:42 it ran to $3.70 at 9:53, up 21%.

It kept pushing in steps. It touched $4.01 at 10:01, fell back to $3.38 at 10:03, then climbed again. At 10:15 a minute with 20,705 shares took it to $4.28.

Two halts and the $4.50 wall

At 10:15:53 it was halted (a volatility pause). It reopened at 10:25:53. The first print was a single trade of 37,150 shares at $4.39. That is more than five percent of the whole float in one trade.

Around the reopen, a lot of stock was offered at exactly $4.50. It first showed at 10:25:48 and peaked at 30,151 shares at 10:26:07, about 4% of the float. Another wall sat at $4.70, peaking at 26,111 shares at 11:37. The $4.50 wall stayed on the book for hours.

The high of the morning was $4.50 at 10:25. At 10:26:48 it was halted again. It reopened at 10:31:48 with a 22,435-share print at $3.75, 17% below the $4.50 high.

It kept falling. It hit $3.30 at 10:39, down 27% from $4.50.

Back to $4.25

From $3.36 at 10:40 it ran to $4.25 at 11:36, up 26%. The move was slow for most of that hour. After 10:41 it stayed between about $3.45 and $3.78 until 11:35, when a minute of 17,162 shares took it through $4.00.

Here's what happened. The 11:39 minute ended at $3.56, and at 11:39:55 it was halted. It reopened at 11:49:55, and the first trade was $3.32. The halt stopped at $3.56 and reopened lower. The low was $3.32, down 22% from $4.25.

The float traded

From $3.32 it ran to $4.20 at 12:50 p.m., up 27%. By 12:50, more shares had traded than exist in the whole float (696,891). It slipped to $3.69 at 12:56, and at 1:10 p.m. it was back at $3.70.

Under the walls

From $3.70 at 1:10 it crept up. By 1:52 it was near $4.08, still under both walls.

Here's what happened. The next four minutes were busy. At 1:53 it touched $4.40. At 1:56:23 the $4.70 wall was pulled, and three seconds later the $4.50 wall was pulled too. The 1:56 minute traded 73,653 shares and closed at $4.59.

A new wall showed up at 1:56:44: 48,000 shares at $4.96, about 7% of the float. It was pulled at 1:58:53. The high of the day was $4.80 at 1:58 p.m., on 77,606 shares. Two and three seconds after the $4.96 wall left, new walls appeared at $4.98 and $5.19.

The top didn't hold. Within four minutes, at 2:02, it was back at $4.19.

At 2:03:56 it was halted for the fourth time. The last minute before the halt closed at $4.04. It reopened at 2:13:56 with a 19,865-share print at $3.86.

The fade and the close

After the halt it drifted. It fell to $3.45 at 3:50 p.m., down 28% from $4.80.

The last regular-session bar, at 3:59 p.m., closed at $3.70, up 21% on the day. After hours it ran to $4.18 at 6:17 p.m. on thin volume.

By the close, 1.63 million shares had traded: the float changed hands about 2 times, at 33 times its normal volume. Normal volume is tiny, about 52,000 shares a day. It was halted 4 times.

What to take from it

• A wall that sits for hours can vanish just before the move. The $4.50 wall was pulled at 1:56:26 p.m. and the high came two minutes later.
• A halt can reopen lower than it stopped. The 11:39 halt stopped at $3.56 and reopened at $3.32.
• Buying right at a reopen costs more than the screen says. At 10:31 the screen said $3.91 and 5,000 shares averaged $4.15.
• After the top, the highs were lower. $4.80 at 1:58 p.m., then $4.04 in the 2:13 minute after the last reopen.