Market making means quoting both sides of a book and earning the spread when both quotes fill. The market maker is compensated for providing liquidity and for carrying the inventory risk that arises whenever one side fills and the other does not.
On short-cycle markets the inventory problem is sharp: a maker who ends a cycle holding one side has an unhedged directional position that resolves in minutes, so quote management near the close matters more than the spread captured earlier.
Quoting through a cycle close without flattening. Inventory that would be a manageable position on a market resolving next month is an unhedged directional bet on a market resolving in ninety seconds.
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