That goes back to the issue of how long the market can stay irrational. Maybe a very long time. Maybe not long at all. So you risk giving a windfall to the cont

That goes back to the issue of how long the market can stay irrational. Maybe a very long time. Maybe not long at all. So you risk giving a windfall to the contrarian investor but maybe no contrarian investor will arrive. I'm pretty sure that China, Japan, Brazil, South Korea and the rest of the foreign sector will be gobbling up stocks willy nilly -- the foreign sector owns 40% of US corp equity and debt, and that number is increasing by about 7% every decade -- so I am a bit skeptical that Exxon needs you to buy their stock, or really any Americans at all - but I wont bet money it wont work in any specific case. If I were to pick a stock most susceptible to price manipulation, I'd go for a smallish company that's more vulnerable.