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The banks and large hedge funds manage so much money that their opinions and positions actually impact the market prices.

For example, akin to the "Colbert Bump", there is a "Buffett Bump" where position prices rise as Buffett releases his positions. Over the past few weeks a bunch of firms were required to disclose some positions as part of a 13F filing.

But it's not all puffery. Check out the story of David Einhorn and Green Mountain Coffee (GMCR).