[Svartalfiar]

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

When a company has an IPO, they don't sell off the entire company. They determine how much of the company needs to be sold to raise the capital they want. If you only need to sell 25% of the company to raise the money to build the new warehouse, why would you risk selling off the entire company to unknown/competitor investors?


How is selling short....manipulation?

How is it not? If a company is worth say $10/share based on revenue, profit, assets, and so forth, and you try to force the price down to $1 a share by making people think the company isn't worth $10 a share, what do you call it?


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

Huh? That's not what I said - are you buying those shares at way more than they're worth in order to try to jack the price up? Buying them at market price because you think they're worth more than people are selling them for isn't manipulation.

[Toddsterpatriot]

If a company is worth say $10/share based on revenue, profit, assets, and so forth,

Who makes that decision? The company? The analyst? You?

and you try to force the price down to $1 a share by making people think the company isn't worth $10 a share, what do you call it?

Force it? You think it's worth $10 "based on revenue, profit, assets, and so forth", I think, "based on FUTURE revenue, SHRINKING profit, DECLINING assets, and so forth" that it's worth $1. So I borrow some and sell it at $10.

are you buying those shares at way more than they're worth in order to try to jack the price up?

No. I'm buying them at the market price because I'm hoping the price goes up.

Buying them at market price because you think they're worth more than people are selling them for isn't manipulation.

But selling them short - at market price because I think they're worth less than people are selling them for is manipulation?