Dear Fadhaa Ali ,

of course they can and actually they do this on a daily basis.

I will give out an example:

Let say that you have a stock ABC that has an average daily trading volume of 1,000,000 shares. If the stock is performing well it will surely draw the attention of 'institutional investors' such as, investment banks, commercial banks, pension funds, mutual funds etc. These institutional investors (you relate to them as 'big traders') buy shares in so called 'blocks' meaning 10,000 shares at time. Institutional traders usually trade multiple blocks so you can have only ONE institutional trader place order of 10,50,100 blocks meaning that every time they trade it influences the stock price in tectonic way REGARDLESS of what the fundamental and technical analysis says about the stock.

One thing I'm certain about, after almost 25 years on the market, is that the price of stock is driven NOT by fundamentals of the company, and NOT by the technical outlook of the company but solely and ONLY by supply and demand... if investors (especially big investors) believe that the stock price is going to go up, IT WILL GO UP regardless of what the financial or mathematical situation of the company is.

I hope this helps!!

regards

Sanel Halilbegovic

Dear Sanel Halilbegovic

Thanks a lot. Well explained

Big traders or governments could be the cause of stock markets' rise or plunge. However, there are other factors that could cause such a rise or plunge. These factors could be internal (from within the country) or external (from outsiders). They include, but not limited to, the concerned company/ies, their competitors, the overall industry, the country's economy, political situations, foreign trade, etc.

Yes, through manipulation. Big traders can create an impression of buying or selling to lure other innocent investors into the market. Disclosure and market integrity are important criteria of an efficient market. The regulators need to keep a watch on this.

of course they can..

Dear Sardar Shaker Ibrahim , Chung Tin Fah , Prof-Dr-Ahmed Al-Baidhani أ. د. احمد البيضاني Thank you for you answers