What is your definition of the noun manipulation? I ask because it gets thrown about so often its meaning becomes blurred.
Using the implied definition of HC posters it would appear to me that every transaction is manipulation. When I go to an electronics store and ask for a discount on a laptop saying I've seen it advertised cheaper elsewhere (perhaps exaggerating) am I manipulating the price?
If I try and haggle the price of a house down, saying $xxx is my top line, when secretly I would go much higher, am I manipulating the sale price?
Those examples are no different to a market trader that chooses to buy heavy or sell heavy to move a price in a direction as part of a bigger strategy.
'Manipulation' one of the most overused and abused nouns on HC!
Notice there never seems to be a cry of manipulation when a price moves in the direction one wants it (usually higher), then it is 'just how it should be' 'it was undervalued'!