Exactly.
But that's not how markets operate efficiently. It is a sign of disfunction.
A proper market is not one in which players game the system and a government intervenes in trading to set things right. The reason we have rules is to prevent cheats gaining an advantage. We need governments to set rules and to stay out of the marketplace. We don't ask them to do this simply because we are moral. It's because cheats harm the entire market and make it inefficient. And you need some trusted body to ensure that doesn't happen.
Just saw what happens when folks operate this way with real estate. And now we're doing the same stuff again with a different asset class. Again, no rules.
It seems as if these kind of tricks are the means by which the Wall Street banks make much of their profits. This is how they keep their shareholders happy. Yet at the same time, they seem to be contributing no value and plenty of harm to society where they make the most money. Someone tell me the purpose of oil trading if it is combined with manipulation of the supply chain. Please.
It also kinda reminds me of folks who are not interested merely in shorting an entrepreneurial company but actually try to influence its failure. Does that serve the interests of society in some way?