If anyone WANTED to manipulate the market (like politicians, for example
), all they would have to do is:
1) convince a few key analysts to lower their consensus on earnings for a bunch of the dow stocks for next quarter & convince a few OPEC partners to drop oil prices temporarily (say, until after the ELECTION)
2) when earnings season hits, "WOW, SURPRISE, LOOK AT ALL THESE BLUE CHIPS BEATING EARNINGS!!" - DOWN RALLIES HUGE (other markets are dragged up, kicking and screaming) - GAS WAY DOWN!!!!
3) Headlines are screaming the great economic news.
4) Key banks and large investment houses (who are in the pocket of said politicians) buy up huge blocks of blue chip stocks and continue to, defying logic and increasingly AWFUL economic data, and no one complains because we are at ALL TIME HIGHS AND EARNINGS ARE GOOD (for half of the dow 30 anyway) and gas is lower.
5) of course, buying up huge blocks of shares of stock sends the cash index higher, which sends the futures contract higher eventually.
Can this be done? Not only CAN it be done, you have been watching it for the past 3 months. Look for a major crash Mid November when no one cares about putting lipstick on this pig any longer.
W