The "what" is evident to me: there is active price manipulation right now.

The "why" seems likely either they are chasing short term gains or suppressing price to stack more. Not sure which is more likely or if there are better explanations, which I would love to hear.

The "how" is what I really would like to know. Are they playing a shell game where they sell to themselves at artificially low prices? If so, how does that even work in an open marketplace? Is it some other mechanism?