ABSTRACT
Manipulation impedes the securities markets from functioning as an independent pricing mechanism and undermines the fairness and integrity of those markets. Manipulation leads to an artificial and controlled price. An investigation by the Commodity Exchange Authority (CEA) of potato trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) found no evidence of short sale manipulations. A CEA study of foreign traders in the commodity futures markets found that their trading was relatively small and posed no threat of manipulation. The banking committees assumed jurisdiction over the stock exchanges, while the agriculture committees controlled legislation dealing with agriculture. Legislation was introduced in 1924 to ban futures trading in grain and cotton unless the parties intended to take delivery on their contracts. Legislation also sought to limit the amount of a single speculative interest in one delivery month as a measure to guard against price manipulation. Economists have long debated the value of rationing and the effects of the World War II price controls.
