Hindsight Markets Small-cap stocks on August 26, 2026
DAIC on August 26, 2026: why it ran
On August 26, 2026, DAIC opened up 59.8% from the previous close of 3.88 and reached 6.88 at 7:10 a.m. ET. The exchange halted it 2 times.
- Previous close
- 3.88
- Open, 9:30 a.m.
- 6.20
- Gap at the open
- up 59.8%
- Pre-market high
- 6.88 at 7:10 a.m.
- High, 4 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- 6.88 at 7:10 a.m.
- Low, 4 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- 4.26
- After-hours high, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- 7.20 at 4:15 p.m.
- Last trade before 4:00 p.m.
- 5.15
- Volume
- 22.61 million
- Relative volume
- 4.0x
- Float
- 853,881 shares, from filings as of August 26, 2026
- Shares outstanding
- 1.21 million
Replay DAIC's day
It starts at 6:56 a.m. ET with the real Level 2, time and sales and chart, from the same feed the replay plays, stops at 6:59 a.m. and asks what you would do. Or press Play on any moment in How it traded.
The day, step by step
- Small cap
- Momentum
- Gap and fade
- Lower high
- Bid wall eaten
- Halted twice
- Float traded 26x
The day before
On August 25, DAIC ran from $3.50 to a high of $6.49. It faded from there and closed at $3.88.
After hours it was back up to $5.18. By the next morning it was trading well above the close.
Pre-market: the float traded by 4:11 a.m.
The first trades on the 26th were at $5.52, already above the $3.88 close. By 4:11 a.m., more shares had traded than exist in the whole float (853,881).
After that it mostly drifted between about $5.20 and $6.00. A sharp move came at 7:01 a.m. It reached $6.19, then dropped to $5.44 in the next minute.
The big move came at 7:10 a.m. In that one minute it went from $5.89 to $6.88, the pre-market high, up 77% from the previous close. 562,975 shares traded in that minute. By 7:12 it was back down to $6.28.
It tried once more. At 7:15 a.m. it pushed to $6.81, a lower high under the $6.88 top. 8.77 million shares traded before the bell, about ten times the float.
The open and the bid at $5.90
It opened at $6.20, up 60% from the previous close. The first minute ranged from $6.01 to $6.69 on 558,681 shares. By 9:31 it had dropped to $5.84.
From 9:36 a.m. on, a large bid sat at exactly $5.90. It peaked at 74,387 shares at 9:42 a.m., about 9% of the float. Above the price there was an ask wall at $6.50 too. It was first seen at 9:31.
Stop It's 9:44. DAIC is at $6.00. Just below, a bid for as many as 74,387 shares has been sitting at $5.90 since 9:36. Would you buy here, counting on that bid to hold?
Press play: the real Level 2, time and sales and chart stop at 9:44 a.m. ET for your call, then show what happened. The clip starts at 9:41 a.m. ET.
Here's what happened. At 9:44:18 the first trade printed at $5.90. In 3.9 seconds, 22,703 shares traded at $5.90 and the bid was gone. Sellers hit it. A 25,135-share sell order went from $5.90 down to $5.81 across ten price levels at 9:44:21. The 9:44 minute closed at $5.84.
The halt at 9:57 and the wall at $5.31
It bounced to $6.29 by 9:51. Then it fell fast. At 9:56:59, a 67,890-share sell order swept from $5.86 to $5.65 across 22 levels. Another sell of 31,793 shares went from $5.51 to $5.35 at 9:57:32.
At 9:57:53 it was halted (a volatility pause) with the last trade at $5.31. An ask wall had appeared at $5.31 at 9:57:40. It peaked at 69,198 shares at 9:57:52, about 8% of the float. It reopened at 10:02:53 at $5.23.
Stop It's 10:03. DAIC reopened a minute ago and is at $5.27. Above it, an ask wall of as many as 69,198 shares was last seen at $5.31. Would you buy here?
Press play: the real Level 2, time and sales and chart stop at 10:03 a.m. ET for your call, then show what happened. The clip starts at 10:00 a.m. ET.
At 10:03:10, 18,259 shares traded at $5.31 within a single second, and the wall was gone by 10:03:11. The 10:03 minute topped out at $5.35. It didn't hold. It sank to $4.77 in the 10:07 minute and hit $4.61 at 10:09.
A new ask wall showed up at $6.00 at 10:03:54. It peaked at 76,905 shares at 12:05 p.m.
Afternoon: the bid at $4.75
The rest of the morning was a slow chop between about $4.80 and $5.40. At 1:02 p.m. a big bid started to build at $4.75.
Stop It's 1:56 p.m. DAIC is at $4.80. A large bid has been building at $4.75 since 1:02. Would you buy here, with the bid right under the price?
Press play: the real Level 2, time and sales and chart stop at 1:56 p.m. ET for your call, then show what happened. The clip starts at 1:53 p.m. ET.
Here's what happened. The $4.75 bid peaked at 104,450 shares at 1:57 p.m., 12% of the float. At 1:58 p.m. the stock jumped from $4.86 to $5.25 in one minute. Buy orders swept $5.13 to $5.26 at 1:58:57 and $5.28 to $5.39 at 1:59:53. By 2:01 it was at $5.36.
Then it reversed. At 2:03:30 the $4.75 bid was hit, and by 2:03:31 it was pulled. 6,951 shares traded at $4.75, in 0.4 seconds. The 2:03 minute went from $5.30 down to $4.75 on 175,398 shares.
At 2:05:40 it was halted (a volatility pause) with the last trade at $4.59. It reopened at 2:10:40 at $4.36, 5% below where it stopped. The reopen print was 25,751 shares at $4.36. The low of the regular session was $4.26, in the 2:10 minute.
The close
From the 2:10 low it climbed back to around $5.00 by 2:53. It spent the last hour between $4.67 and $5.17, and closed at $5.15. That is 25% under the $6.88 pre-market high. That high came at 7:10 a.m. and was 11% above the open.
By the close, 10.02 million shares had traded, about 12 times the float. For the whole day including pre-market and after hours, 22.61 million shares traded: the float changed hands about 26 times, at about 4 times its normal volume.
After hours
After the bell it dipped to $4.94 at 4:05 p.m. Then it ran. In the 4:09 minute it reached $6.00, and at 4:15 p.m. it hit $7.20, the high of the whole day and 40% above the $5.15 close. That is higher than the $6.88 pre-market top.
The spike did not last. By 4:24 it was back at $5.87, and it traded around $6.00 for much of the evening. The last bar, at 7:59 p.m., closed at $5.58. 3.81 million shares traded after hours.
What to take from it
- After the pre-market top, the next push stopped lower. $6.88 at 7:10 a.m., then $6.81 at 7:15 a.m.
- A big bid is not a floor. The 74,387-share bid at $5.90 was eaten by sellers in under four seconds. The 104,450-share bid at $4.75 was pulled at 2:03 p.m. After the $5.90 bid broke, the stock dipped to $5.80 before bouncing; after the $4.75 bid was pulled, it fell to $4.26 by 2:10 p.m.
- Chasing a spike costs more than the screen says. At 7:10:30 a.m. a 5,000-share buy averaged $405 over the screen price. The book was thin in those seconds.
Why it ran
News and SEC filings for DAIC published between the previous session's close and the first minute DAIC traded 20% above it, at 4:00 a.m. ET, newest first, from the same feeds the replay shows.
No news found before the move.
How it traded
Gap and fade. It gapped up 59.8% to 6.20 at the open and traded below the open by 4:00 p.m., at 5.15.
| Time (ET) | What happened | Watch it |
|---|---|---|
| 4:00 a.m. | First trade 20% above the previous close of 3.88 | |
| 4:11 a.m. | Volume since 4:00 a.m. passes the whole float, 853,881 shares | |
| 7:10 a.m. | Pre-market high, 6.88 | |
| 7:10 a.m. | High of the day to the close, 6.88 | |
| 9:30 a.m. | The open: 6.20, up 59.8% from the previous close | |
| 9:57 a.m. | Halted: LULD pause (limit up-limit down). Trading resumes at 10:02 a.m. | |
| 2:05 p.m. | Halted: LULD pause (limit up-limit down). Trading resumes at 2:10 p.m. | |
| 3:59 p.m. | Last trade before the 4:00 p.m. close, 5.15, 25.1% below the high |
The shape is a fixed rule, not a judgement: gapped 10% or more at the open, ran 10% or more from the open to the high, and faded if it gave back 30% or more of that move by the close.
The day in numbers
- Volume, from the one-minute bars: 8.77 million shares before the 9:30 a.m. open (39%), 3.05 million in the first 30 minutes (14%), and 10.78 million in the rest of the day to 8 p.m. (48%).
- Float rotation, the volume since 4 a.m. against the float of 853,881 shares: past it once at 4:11 a.m., twice at 4:43 a.m., three times at 6:34 a.m.
- The halt at 9:57 a.m.: down 12.8% in the 5 minutes into it, reopened at 5.23, down 1.5% from the last trade before it, then down 1.9% over the next 5 minutes.
- The halt at 2:05 p.m.: down 13.7% in the 5 minutes into it, reopened at 4.36, down 5.0% from the last trade before it, then up 1.7% over the next 5 minutes.
- Other days DAIC met the small-cap rule in our recaps: 5, the latest on September 17, 2026.
Halts
| Halted | Resumed | Length | Reason in the feed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:57 a.m. | 10:02 a.m. | 5 min 0 s | LULD pause (limit up-limit down) |
| 2:05 p.m. | 2:10 p.m. | 5 min 0 s | LULD pause (limit up-limit down) |
On this date the LULD plan ran under Amendment 18, in force from February 24, 2020: no band doubling at the open, and the closing doubling only for Tier 1 stocks and Tier 2 stocks whose previous close was at or below three dollars. See LULD halts or work out a band with the LULD calculator.
Trade this day
Replay DAIC on August 26, 2026 in Hindsight Markets: the real tape, the order book and the halts, on a clock you control, and see where your orders would have filled.