Market manipulation is conduct that interferes with the honest formation of a price — through fake orders, coordinated trades, false statements or control of supply — in order to profit from the distortion it creates. US law addresses it through the Securities Exchange Act, the Commodity Exchange Act and the federal fraud statutes.
law and enforcement · updated 2026-09-08
See also
Securities fraud— Securities fraud is deception in connection with the purchase or sale of a security. Market manipulation is one species of it; ins…
Scienter— Scienter is the mental state of intending to deceive, manipulate or defraud. It is a required element of a Rule 10b-5 claim, and i…
Artificial price— An artificial price is one that does not reflect the genuine forces of supply and demand. Proving artificiality is a required elem…