The Exchange Tower is a 36 storey tower. The elevator stops on the third floor, as the elevator door opens the fly quickly escapes from the confinement into the half acre office complex, home to hundreds of Market Makers. Immediately the fly makes a beeline through an open door for the donuts on the sideboard. This room is no ordinary room. This room is the fabled ‘back-room’ where only a select few, to the outside world Faceless-Backroom-Boys ply their trade.

The meeting is over, a dozen or so FBB’s about to leave the room, just then the chief FBB calls back his number one FBB.

“ Number One, give me the year to date report on our Cinderella stock Falcon. You should know that our biggest investors are getting impatient.”

“Well Chief, which one do you want to hear first, the good news or the bad news?”

“Ok, give me the bad news first.”

“I have to tell you up front that we’re using every available tool in the toolbox but the result is still the same as it was all of last year, no one is selling. Hence we have to prime the sluice; consequently we end up hemorrhaging our pool of shares to smart long-term investors.”

“Look Number One, I don’t want to hear about smart investors, just use our double talking minions and find more tools in that toolbox and get results. Our purpose is to profit, so screw the public. We’re the market makers, and that’s what we do.”

“More like Robber Barons”

“I hope that was just a tongue in cheek remark, not some sort of guilt trip.”

“Of course not”

“Ok Number One. So what’s the good news?”

“Just picked up some more Falcon in my private account”