Sorry no rant intended, As I stated earlier the only way to...

Sorry no rant intended,
As I stated earlier the only way to correct bad behavior is to confront it, and that starts with dialogue.

Not peer reviewed, but this will get you started

"What is 'Manipulation"
Manipulation is the act of artificially inflating or deflating the price of a security or otherwise influencing the behavior of the market for personal gain. Manipulation is illegal in most cases, but it can be difficult for regulators and other authorities to detect.

Manipulation takes many forms in the markets. One way people can deflate the price of a security is by placing hundreds of small orders at a significantly lower price than the one at which it has been trading. This gives investors the impression that there is something wrong with the company, so they sell, pushing the prices even lower. Another example of manipulation would be to place simultaneous buy and sell orders through different brokers that cancel each other out but give the perception, because of the higher volume, that there is increased interest in the security. (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/manipulation.asp)

If by legal weapons you mean algorithmic bot trading platforms, or superior access to company information, or use of mass media streams to propagate misinformation, then I say tomatoe tomato.



cheers