"The charts are being manipulated" During the GFC many would...

"The charts are being manipulated"
During the GFC many would refer to the "Plunge protection team". When Donald Trump was running for office he used to constantly tells us that the unemployment numbers were rigged. He changed his tune when he was in office & was constantly referring to them. 9/11 conspiracy, new world order..............

The problem with all of these conspiracy theories is how complex & difficult it would be to implement it. Let alone keeping it a secret becomes a massive task, especially in free open democratic country. Think about the fate of the ruble now worth less than the Afghani or less than 1 US penny. Even in a closed Autocracy like the RF there is not a lot the central bank can do other than set the Interest rates because the ruble is a floating currency.
However I will admit their is one institution in US that can make a difference to how the markets react to a certain degree.
Its the Fed. As they say in the markets "dont fight the Fed". As we all know the current decline we have had is due to the inflation fears & the Fed intervening with interest rate hikes & the end of QE. Just the fact that interest rates are now only going to be raised by 25 bps instead of 50 bps has slowed down the decline to some extent. In an ideal world the only factor that should drive equity markets is Company Earnings. And perhaps that's what driving the markets lower right now, "the largest decrease in EPS estimates for S&P 500 companies since Q2 2020" (source Factset).