I predict that the S&P 500 will be well under 5,000 by September 30th

[EdwinA]

Essentially broker profit margin. It's how the brokers make money. That's not rigging.

Of course it is. Some gaps can be as much as 50 cents to a dollar per share. The Peanut Gallery can look up how many share of any given stock issue are actually on the market and for sale, then do the math.

 

[EdwinA]

its a worse form of insider trading where the market markers themselves pause things because their trades are going south.

insider trading works but a worse term is actually needed.

Stock watering is still a time honored 'tradition' on Wall Street, which is why companies keep so many shares off the market until they decide it's time to cash out and dump it. In many case, there are only around 1%-2% of shares of a stock on the markets actively trading, out of many millions outstanding.

Just ignore the 'free market' fantasists; they have no idea what they're talking about.