Between 3:15 and 3:26 on Thursday the Sensex did absolutely nothing. The equilibrium price sat frozen near 77,890 and the expiry straddle, 425 rupees at the open, melted to about 80. Then, in the final four minutes, the closing auction moved almost three hundred points: the indicative price went from 77,859 at 3:22 to 78,143 at 3:26, and the settlement printed at 78,079.96, up 113 on the day and 80 points over the 78,000 battleground. Round three of the closing auction answered episode 102's question with cruel precision: the pre-paid fireworks came, one minute too late for anyone still holding premium. Even a 78,000 straddle bought for 80 in the window settled worth about 80, breakeven on a 284 point swing. The new rule that completes the auction playbook: the move now lives after 3:26, inside the uncross itself, where nobody trades. A frozen eq ...