Today's 1-minute chart. See the BLACK volume bar o

Today's 1-minute chart. See the BLACK volume bar on the over 40k share minute, at about 12:15? See how ALL of those 40k shares traded at the same price, because you just see a "dot" rather than a vertical bar (which would indicate trades at varying prices)?

See the long red bar near the close, in one minute it traded down from 1.41 to 1.39, on small volume? I think that was actually several trades including my lousy little 250 share fill at 1.39. See those trades at 1.39 right after 3:00? I should have been filled then, because I was first on the bid at 1.39 -- but I wasn't filled.

http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/advchart/fra...p;state=11
So if AlanC's 51% short sale figure from today was entirely market makers keeping things efficient, why didn't I get my whole order filled at least by the time of that long red bar? Wouldn't the market makers have "temporarily shorted" enough to fill me, instead of my sitting on the bid for a long time, and then only getting a partial fill?

I think some of it was shorting, and I think "they" were selling back and forth to each other as AlanC has said. Many times I've put in orders a cent or two below the bid and last trade, which lowered the bid price to mine -- and then I saw other orders get filled but not mine. Other people have noticed the same thing with their trades. I do not for a minute believe that all these short trades are merely market makers keeping the market running smoothly.