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1.3 Who Moves US Stocks? Government, Regulators & Market Makers
The institutions that shape the market through policy, and the participants that move it through trading.
About this lecture
A tariff announcement, a government shutdown, a Treasury auction or a disappearing bid can affect your position. Who is behind each event, and how does their role differ?
In this lecture, Pratham maps two sides of the US market: the institutions that influence it through policy and the participants that move it through trading.
You'll learn about:
- Congress, spending bills, taxes and the debt ceiling
- Presidential decisions, tariffs, sanctions and appointments
- Treasury borrowing, bond supply and crisis responses
- The Fed's role and its relationship with elected officials
- The SEC and CFTC as market regulators
- How market makers provide liquidity and manage event risk
- Index funds, passive flows and the closing auction
The goal is to connect a headline to the institution or participant behind it—and understand the channel through which it can affect prices.
Educational content only. Not investment advice.
Key takeaways
- Two sides move the market: institutions through policy — Congress, the President, the Treasury, the Fed, the SEC and the CFTC — and participants through trading — market makers, index funds and passive flows.
- Congress controls spending, taxes and the debt ceiling; the President decides tariffs, sanctions and appointments; the Treasury borrows and sets the supply of bonds.
- Market makers provide the liquidity you trade against and step back when event risk rises, which is how a bid can disappear.
- Passive flows from index funds concentrate in the closing auction.