2 Setting the scene

The market participants, facilitators, and influencers

Stock markets have participants, facilitators and influencers – and regulators.  It is important to understand their roles and motivations and how they operate.

The main actors described in this book, and covered in some detail in Chapter 6, are:

• Dealers, brokers, and broker-dealers
• The institutional investors
• The banks
• Fund managers
• The trading desk
• Activist shareholders
• Hedge funds
• Stock exchanges
• Market makers
• Index companies
• Investment advisers
• Corporate or house stockbrokers
• Retail stockbrokers
• The analysts
• The retail market
• Private equity
• Predator companies
• Corporate interests
• Company insiders
• Founders and owners
• Short sellers
• Traders
• Futures and options traders
• High-frequency traders
• Financial information groups
• Media
• Academics
• Regulators – last, but not least!

The interplay between all of these actors creates an environment for the retail investor that is full of complexities. […]