[vegabook]

you clearly have absolutely no clue what you are talking about - a catastrophic dearth of experience in financial markets, nor any idea of the theory of speculation. I don't know where to start but this laughable statement is as good as any:

"If speculation influences prices then it's in the interest of speculators to create pricing mechanisms that are perpetually "out of whack" so they can profit from them"

How exactly will they influence said prices without trading? Which costs money? HOw would they move a price (cost money) then move it back (cost money) without constantly losing money? You need other people to take you out of your speculative position, and those other people must be (net-net) non-speculators, and sufficient in number (which was @omegaham's point). Separately, any market which is purposefully "perpetually out of whack" is not even a market, and will quickly tend to zero participants.

"Markets are just entrail reading"

Another eye-roller so vacant that I don't know how to respond.

I wish people like you wouldn't jump in with such certainty about subjects in which you are eminently and so evidently without the foggiest of any idea, but willing to get your word in anyway.