Most of the time, internal market forces including liquidity, valuation and future expectations of economic activity mixed with fear and greed dictate the market's direction. IMTO, the fed's intervene directly (or through "agents") only at critical junctures. They have done as much as they can (IMTO) on the monetary side and massive deficit spending is doing a lot on the fiscal side, but these are not necessarily dictated by "market manipulation" and more by trying to avert a major economic catastrophe, prevention of a snow balling effect of an economic slow down and readjustment to excesses of the 90'. In edit out of the bu$$ here at $18.33 a nice little $.78...