According to Ben Stein regarding the Socgen debacle, "Traders don't guess, calculate, divine, predict or speculate prices, they manipulate them. They like to form groups to set prices, to manipulate the system." Obviously I don't think there are many Ben Stein supporters on ET, but any thoughts?
Yeah, it's all small-time retail traders, not hedge funds and market makers. Thanks for clearing that up, Ben.
..."Traders don't guess, calculate, divine, predict or speculate prices, they manipulate them. They like to form groups to set prices, to manipulate the system."... Change this to "The FED/PPT don't guess, calculate, divine, predict or speculate prices, they manipulate them. They like to form groups to set prices, to manipulate the system."
Whether any trader is conscious of it or not, most are always in groups manipulating price. it's called herd behavior.
This is Mr. E trade shill, circa 1999 , 2000. Like Bill Gates, rake it in, then shit all over the system. While I agree w/ the premise, he makes the point badly. There are rules. Obey them, make a billion. Give back to the industry.
To be fair I think Ben might have been referring to institutional traders... But seriously, anyone who thinks one particular group can influence the market for long is out of their minds( except for Goldman Sachs of course)
No, traders run from the herd. Ever watch Discovery Channel when the herd follows the same path for thoushands of years to get preyed upon by the lions, alligators etc.....