Most people believe markets reflect reality—economic data, earnings reports, interest rates, and global news. But what if the game is rigged? What if prices don’t move randomly, but are carefully orchestrated by the world’s most powerful financial players?

The truth is this: markets are manipulated.

And not just in shady backrooms or obscure corners of finance—manipulation happens every day, in broad daylight, across stocks, crypto, commodities, and currencies. The players? Institutional investors, hedge funds, market makers, even central banks and governments. And the targets? Uninformed retail traders and investors, like you!

Once you learn to spot the patterns, you’ll see it everywhere. Even better—you’ll learn how to position yourself on the right side of the trade, riding the waves the smart money creates instead of getting crushed by them.

Let’s dive deep into how the game is played—and how you can win.

How Market Manipulation Really Works

The “Pump Before the Dump”

Before a market crashes, it usually rallies. Sounds backwards, right? But this is one of the oldest tricks in the book.

Here’s how it plays out:

1. Media Hype & False Optimism
   The financial media machine starts flooding headlines with bullish stories:

   • “This tech stock is the next big thing!”

   • “The economy is stronger than expected.”

   • “New all-time highs ahead!”
     These headlines create FOMO (fear of missing out), luring in retail investors who want to ride the wave.

2. Artificial Buying Pressure
   Institutions begin marking up prices using low-volume buying or coordinated pushes. This gives the illusion of strength and draws in even more retail money.

3. Distribution Phase
   As prices climb, the smart money begins quietly selling their positions—offloading to the very retail traders who believed the hype.

4. The Crash
   Once enough retail traders are trapped in high-priced positions, the institutions pull the plug. They sell hard, trigger a cascade of panic selling, and the market tanks.

5. Panic Selling & Bottom Buying
   Retail investors, watching their accounts bleed, panic sell near the bottom. The same institutions that pumped the market now buy it all back—at a deep discount.

This cycle has repeated time and again: in 1929, in the dot-com bubble, during the 2008 crisis, and even in the crypto crashes of 2017 and 2022, and the Covid crash of 2020.

The “Dump Before the Pump”

Now here’s the flip side—one that’s been happening and happening right now, literally today (April 07, 2025).

Before a massive rally, markets are often aggressively pushed down to create premium entry points for institutional buyers. Side note: In the training videos for Triangulation, we discuss "selling (shorting) premiums, and buying discounts".

Why? Because smart money doesn’t want to buy high. They want to buy cheap. And to do that, they need to shake retail traders out of their positions.

Here’s how it works:

1. Media Fear Campaigns
   The headlines shift:

   • “Recession fears rise.”

   • “Interest rate hikes will destroy the economy.”

   • “Investors brace for more pain.”
     This narrative creates fear, uncertainty, and doubt—causing retail traders to exit in a panic.

2. Coordinated Shorting & Sell-Offs
   Institutions and hedge funds aggressively short the market. Market makers facilitate sell-offs that push prices through key support levels.

3. Liquidity Grabs & Stop Hunts
   Price is driven below support just long enough to hit stop losses and force margin calls. Weak hands are flushed out. This is when smart money steps in and buys.

4. Reversal & Short Squeeze
   Once the big players have accumulated enough, the narrative flips again. Price reverses. Shorts get squeezed. Forced buying drives prices even higher.

5. The Next Rally
   Retail traders, now watching from the sidelines, FOMO back in—buying from the same institutions who bought the bottom.

It’s all part of the script. We’ve seen it before, and we’re seeing it again, literally TODAY.

Other Common Forms of Market Manipulation

While the pump/dump cycle is the most visible, market manipulation runs deeper:

• Spoofing – Fake buy or sell orders placed to create false sentiment, then canceled before execution. If you watch closely, you can actually see this happen on a daily basis.

• Stop-Hunting – Driving price to known stop-loss zones to trigger liquidations and create forced selling. I personally know a trader who built an algo he calls "Stop Hunter" that does exactly that! This is a real thing people!

• Dark Pool Activity – Institutions buying or selling large blocks privately to avoid tipping off retail traders. This is also done via "iceberg orders". 

• Algorithmic Traps – Bots programmed to react to certain price levels or patterns—are used against the public’s predictable behavior.

This is all legal enough to be allowed, but shady enough to ensure retail loses more often than not—unless they learn to see through it.

How Retail Traders & Investors Can Benefit Without Being the Manipulator

So, what can you do? If you’re not part of the elite institutions controlling the board, how do you avoid being a pawn?

The answer: You play smarter.

Here’s how:

1. Think Opposite of the Herd

Retail sentiment is often a contrarian indicator.

• When everyone is bullish, be cautious.

• When everyone is panicking, prepare to buy.

Watch the headlines. If they’re screaming “sell,” chances are the big money is accumulating.

2. Follow Liquidity, Not News

Price doesn’t move because of news. It moves because of liquidity—where stop-losses and pending orders sit.

Learn to spot:

• Liquidity zones

• Order blocks

• Sweeps of recent highs/lows

That’s where institutions place their trades.

3. Dollar-Cost Average Into Value

Trying to catch exact bottoms is risky. Instead:

• Accumulate quality assets when fear is high.

• DCA (dollar-cost average) into strong positions over time.

• Zoom out—look at the broader trend.

This works especially well during suppressed markets like now. This is one of the main methods Triangulation uses in its algorithm. It is a method many hedge funds use and well-known investors like Kathy Woods and Warren Buffett, to name a couple. 

4. Use Options to Your Advantage

If you understand options, consider:

• Buying long-dated calls during times of extreme fear.

• Selling cash-secured puts to generate income and potentially buy at a lower price.

Options can give you leveraged exposure with controlled risk—if you know what you’re doing.

5. Recognize Institutional Footprints

Look for:

• Volume spikes at key levels

• Fake breakdowns or breakouts followed by reversal

• Price holding above/below VWAP or major moving averages (I am personally not a fan of these and other lagging indicators, but they can "help" in decision-making.)

These are signs the big players are positioning.

6. Be Patient—but Ready

Markets don’t announce the bottom. The next rally always starts when most people are afraid to buy. At the time of this writing, it is very possible this could be a current major bottom as many of these signs are taking shape this very day.

Get your plan ready before that moment.

When the reversal starts, you won’t be scrambling—you’ll be positioned.

Final Thoughts: Master the Game or Be Played by It

Markets are manipulated—it’s a fact. But you don’t have to be a victim of that manipulation.

You can learn the game.

You can observe the patterns.

And you can ride the waves alongside smart money—instead of getting washed out by it.

Right now, the signs are clear: the market is being driven down to create premium pricing for institutional accumulation. A massive rally is coming. To me, it looks like today could be the start. If not today, then I personally think very soon (within 1-3 days).

So ask yourself:

Will you panic like the herd?

Or will you position like the pros?

The choice is yours.