Market manipulation is a type of securities fraud designed to trigger a rise or fall in the price of a specific stock. The manipulators may then profit from the change in stock price.
The stock market manipulation lawyers at Silver Law Group have substantial experience in helping defrauded investors recover their financial losses. Our experienced litigators can explain your legal options and guide you through the process of obtaining compensation.
Stock market manipulation can take many forms. What they all have in common is someone taking intentional steps to improperly impact the market price of a specific stock.
Fraudsters typically positions themselves to take advantage of the movement of the stock price to make a profit, while at the same time, investors unaware of the scheme may lose money by purchasing that stock. Market manipulation can be difficult to detect, but the attorneys at Silver Law Group are adept at identifying evidence of these securities or investment fraud.
Technology that allows real-time trading also allows someone’s activities in one market to influence prices in another market in another part of the world. This is called cross market manipulation or inter-trading venue manipulation.
In this form of market manipulation, a person or group of people generally place “buy” or “sell” orders for a specific stock, or a series of orders at varying prices. The activity generates investor interest in the stock, thus artificially increasing or decreasing the price.
The manipulators are positioned to profit from the stock’s movement and typically cancel the orders that set off the price changes, or only follow through on the orders that allow them to take advantage of the price fluctuation.
In a Pump-and-Dump scheme, a shareholder or group of shareholders spread false financials or information about the company to artificially inflate the share price, then sells their stock at a profit. Social media can have a profound amplifying effect that manipulators use to spread inaccurate information to influence stock prices. The price will usually fall once the true information becomes known, but the manipulator will have made a significant profit at the expense of investors who acted on the false information. Our lawyers can hold individuals civilly accountable for their market manipulation schemes.
Many individual investors typically lose money in market manipulation schemes, but the sums might not be high enough to justify the cost of bringing an individual lawsuit. Federal law addresses this issue through the class action securities fraud lawsuit, an efficient way for a court to hear multiple similar claims together.
Market manipulation typically catches many people unaware, and there may be thousands of investors who lose money in these schemes. When an investor files a lawsuit for a specific occurrence of market manipulation, they generally must publish the details of their claim so others with similar claims can join the action. A judge reviews the claims and, if the collective claims are substantially similar, could certify a class action.
One or more of the plaintiffs will be named lead plaintiff in the case. The lead plaintiff is typically the one who suffered the largest financial losses due to the market manipulation. The lead plaintiff sometimes has influence over the litigation, and can decide whether to settle and for how much. Silver Law Group can assist an investor in an application to be lead plaintiff in a market manipulation class action and prosecute those claims.
Victims of market manipulation have a legal claim if they bought or sold the securities during the designated class period. The class period is the time during which the stock price was artificially inflated or depressed due to market manipulation. These periods can be a matter of days or even years.
In many cases, the class period changes as lawyers for the plaintiffs uncover more information about the timing of the fraudster’s conduct. Our securities fraud lawyers will keep you informed of developments that might change the timeframe of the class period.
If you were the victim of stock market manipulation, a class action to recoup your losses may be the best option. Speak with the lawyers at Silver Law Group about your claim and learn how we can bring justice.
Our market manipulation claims lawyers represent investors all over the country who have lost money due to fraudsters, scammers, and bad operators. Call today to explore your legal options.
