[Svartalfiar]

What's artificial about it?

The whole point of a stock is a valuation of how much ownership in the company is worth. If a company issues 49% of itself as 1MM stock, and each stock is $2, then that company's value is about $4MM. This is based on the company's assets, revenue/profit, future potential, and other financial/physical metrics. Unless there's other major factors/events (company invents a new cheap fuel source, rival company invents a new cheap fuel source, etc), the real value of that company should stay pretty close to $4MM. If their stocks double, triple, or get cut by 50%, 80% simply due to market manipulation, how is that not artificial? It's not based on actual value (or not) from the company, it's simply someone gaming the system to make the company appear more or less valuable, simply for the purpose of making money off of that valuation, not off the value of the company. I would call that artificial, yes.

[Toddsterpatriot]

If a company issues 49% of itself as 1MM stock,

How does a company issue less than 100% of itself?

If their stocks double, triple, or get cut by 50%, 80% simply due to market manipulation, how is that not artificial?

How is selling short....manipulation?

It's not based on actual value (or not) from the company, it's simply someone gaming the system to make the company appear more or less valuable,

If I buy 1000 shares, because I think it's undervalued, I'm guilty of artificially manipulating the price?