Hindsight Markets Recaps Small-cap stocks on September 24, 2026
APUS, September 24: a headline at 8:30, $8.74 at 9:32, and a fade to $5.06
APUS more than tripled at the open after news, ran to $8.74, then fell below its open by the close.
News via Stock News API
What happened
The 8:30 headline
A deal headline at 8:30 woke up a stock that had closed at $2.29. It swung from $3.18 down to $1.93, then ran to $6.98 by 9:00. About 16M shares traded before the bell, far more than its 806K-share float.
A wall above the open
Before the open, a big seller showed up above the price. About 48K shares were offered at $8.75.
Stop It's 9:30. APUS is opening at $6.99, up from a $2.29 close. About 48,000 shares are offered at $8.75. Would you buy here?
Press play: the real Level 2, tape and chart run from 9:28 a.m. and stop at 9:30 a.m. ET for your call.
That offer was pulled at 9:30:46. The stock hit $8.74 at 9:32, a penny under where the wall had stood. Two minutes later it was at $7.23.
A bid that left
From 11:02, a big buyer sat far below the price. A bid of up to 105K shares waited at $4.98, and the stock stayed above it.
Stop It's 11:51. APUS is at $5.64. A large bid has sat at $4.98 since 11:02, well below the price. Would you buy here?
Press play: the real Level 2, tape and chart run from 11:48 a.m. and stop at 11:51 a.m. ET for your call.
Buy orders lifted it to $6.56 by 11:54. At 11:56:13 the $4.98 bid was pulled, with no shares traded there. The stock faded and closed at $5.06, 42% under the high.
What to take from it: Big orders on the book can vanish without ever trading.
Replay APUS's day
It starts at 8:23 a.m. ET with the real Level 2, time and sales and chart, from the same feed the replay plays, stops at 8:26 a.m. and asks what you would do. Or press Play on any moment in How it traded.
The details
How it traded, step by step
Gap, run and fade. It gapped up 205.2% to $6.99 at the open, ran from the open to the high of $8.74 in 2 minutes, then gave back 210% of that move by 4:00 p.m., trading at $5.06, below the open.
| Time (ET) | What happened | Watch it |
|---|---|---|
| 8:30 a.m. | News (GlobeNewsWire): MindWave Innovations Signs Agreement to Build and Operate AQUAEChain, a Platform for Insured ALCI Credits | |
| 8:31 a.m. | First trade 20% above the previous close of $2.29 | |
| 8:35 a.m. | Volume since 4:00 a.m. passes the whole float, 805,943 shares | |
| 9:25 a.m. | Pre-market high, $7.28 | |
| 9:30 a.m. | The open: $6.99, up 205.2% from the previous close | |
| 9:32 a.m. | High of the day to the close, $8.74 | |
| 3:59 p.m. | Last trade before the 4:00 p.m. close, $5.06, 42.1% below the high |
The shape's name comes from a fixed rule, not a judgement (how shapes are named). Halts are in the halt table below.
The day in numbers
- Previous close
- $2.29
- Open, 9:30 a.m.
- $6.99
- Gap at the open
- +205.2%
- Pre-market high
- $7.28 at 9:25 a.m.
- High, 4 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- $8.74 at 9:32 a.m.
- Low, 4 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- $1.93
- Close, 4 p.m.
- $5.06
- Change at 4 p.m.
- +121.0%
- After-hours high, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- $5.79 at 7:58 p.m.
- Volume, 4 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- 35.76 million
- Volume after hours, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
- 985,070
- Relative volume by 8 p.m.
- 378.7×
- Float
- 805,943 shares, from filings as of September 24, 2026
- Shares outstanding
- 1.51 million
- From news to the move: the first trade 20% above the previous close came 1 minute after the latest news item before it (GlobeNewsWire, 8:30 a.m.).
- Volume, from the one-minute bars: 16.42 million shares before the 9:30 a.m. open (45%), 6.62 million in the first 30 minutes (18%), and 13.71 million in the rest of the day to 8 p.m. (37%).
- Float rotation, the volume since 4 a.m. against the float of 805,943 shares: past it once at 8:35 a.m., twice at 8:37 a.m., three times at 8:38 a.m.
- Other days APUS met the small-cap rule in our recaps: 9, the latest on October 12, 2026.
- The next session, September 25, 2026, it was up 43.8% from its previous close at the 4:00 p.m. close.
On the day's lists: the pre-market gappers, gainers, intraday runners, after-hours movers. It is here because it met the small-cap rule on the pre-market gappers: price $2 to $20, up 10% or more, relative volume 5× or more, float under 20 million shares, its high reached $1 or more and it started the day at $20 or under (the rule every page uses).
Halts (none)
The exchange's halt feed shows no halts for APUS that day.
Halt bands that day: the LULD plan's Amendment 18 rules (what that means, LULD calculator).
How we read the data, name a day's shape and pick the stocks: methodology.
Trade this day
Replay APUS on September 24, 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.