Do you guys literally think all the institutions are being led around by their nose via Trump’s tweets?
The market prides itself on being a transparent and fair place for trading, however, it is not completely immune from some particularly large players utilising the system to their advantage – whether this is acting on inside information or forcing the markets to move in a certain direction in order to benefit their investment portfolio. Alongside insider trading, there is also the risk of price rigging – although this is illegal, so action is often swift and heavy when it is uncovered. Recently, Barclays, RBS and several other banks were involved in a £1bn forex rigging lawsuit, after their activities were alleged to reduce competition in markets for 11 countries, including the pound, US dollar and the euro. Additionally, there have been several instances during the Trump administration where significant trading activity has taken place just before major political announcements, leading to millions and in some cases billions of profit for the ‘lucky’ traders. Although these trades were not considered suspicious by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, it has led some to speculate that these trades were the result of insider information.