Damn ... there's always a catch ... It's a British, working class political reformer in the mid-19th Century: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartism
Don't fear manipulation, welcome it! The easiest price movement to read is that which is being manipulated, once you learn how, of course! The attached is a perfect example of a manipulated stock. Something as big as an index futures contract could not be manipulated for as long a time. But short intraday runs can be.
For the most part, prices can be manipulated only when the volume is low. (We've all heard of "pump and dump" in penny stocks.) Except in perhaps rare cases like the famous "flash crash"... and not sure even that qualifies... the ES is too big to be manipulated for much... would take HUGE* money during RTH with no assurance of success. * to manipulate the ES for 1 point would take about $250 MILLION. (After hours is a lesser story, but still. There are almost always ~1000 contracts within 1 point of the current price.) I can recall when the ES first started trading. The entire DOM overnight might be 20 contracts total or less Bid/Offered. That's when the prices could have been manipulated. You really shouldn't concern yourself with the ES possibly being "manipulated".
Don't know if it's manipulated and don't care. I find it to be a good instrument to trade. The only thing I know for sure is, I sure as hell can't manipulate it.
who cares...especially outside trading hours manipulated markets or not - TA still works imho smartness of the trader reflected not in his predictions (he should not do them imho), but in how well his method works