Cornering the Market
Cornering the market was a technique used to accumulate all or most of the available supply of a stock or commodity. The buyer did this to raise the price of the stock or commodity at will. Cornering affected speculators who sold short, or sold stock they did not yet own but planned to buy at lower prices. The market corner forced those who needed a stock to pay high prices to the controlling group. Various stock exchanges and the Securities and Exchange Commission have outlawed cornering. They limit the prices at which a speculator may sell short, because these practices have caused serious fluctuations in the stock market.