Question on Price Action?

Hi Guys,

I am confused on recent market action, particularly on SPY or QQQ etc.

Take a look here: https://imgur.com/a/Dm9bz8C

It would be my understanding that normal market participants would likely have limit orders, not market. Or say vanguard that needs to accumulate another x millions in AAPL, my (ignorant) assumption is that they would set a limit order and accumulate over time – not slam in market orders minutes before close.

This price action to me looks like market orders, en masse, all stampeding over each other to get a fill in the past 2-3 minutes. There is no news… nothing to trigger this as far as I know.

So my question is:

• that who or what is making up these orders?
• Is this retail traders buying 0DTE options from MM – who then turns around and hedges their short call option by buying shares?
• Are these shorts closing their positions with a market order?

Underlying this question is about the market dynamics and what is driving these aggressive moves up… on a red day… with no news. It would seem rational that the bulls would buy the dip and accumulate shares, but are they really using market orders?

It is supposed to be stairs up, elevator down, but it seems like its elevator up, stairs down. I am trying to find a rational perspective as to “why?”

I am not wearing a tin foil hat, or desperately hoping for a crash. I just haven't seen this type of price action in the past and it only seems to have shown up in 2023.

Any insights?