BREAKING DOWN 'Painting The Tape' Two common objectives of painting the tape are to lure unsuspecting investors into a security and to achieve a high closing price for it.
Painting the tape is a form of market manipulation whereby market players attempt to influence the price of a security by buying and selling it among themselves to create the appearance of substantial trading activity. Painting the tape is an illegal activity that is prohibited by the Securities and Exchange Commission because it creates an artificial price. The term originated in a bygone era when stock prices were largely transmitted on a "ticker tape."