@Trees haha yes hindsight is an amazing power for traders.
I don't understand people's fascination with trying to explain stock moves with an almost 'individualistic' model of thought.. like forever I've been hearing about 'manipulation' by someone..
Who cares? it doesn't help you trade. It's just a theory to make people feel better I think.
IMO you should be looking at how those stocks you feel are 'manipulated' act and respond in terms of price and volume so you can trade it better next time. Learn from your mistakes and make the stock behavior work to your benefit.
If it's not making you money (in the trading game), don't waste your effort on it. Concentrate on patterns and stocks which make you coin and forget the noise.
