“Nobody is bigger than the market” (Wall Street adage)

“No man/one/person is bigger than the market” (or “Nobody is bigger than the market”) is a saying popular in Wall Street and other markets. The saying means that a free market is so large that no one can manipulate it for very long. “No man is bigger than the market” has been cited in print since at least 1967.
 
“At stock and commodities exchanges there’s an adage that ‘No man is bigger than the market’” was cited in print in February 1980. In January 1980, Nelson Bunker Hunt had tried to corner the silver market, but he eventually had to file for bankruptcy. “No one is Bigger than the Market - Even the Fed Reserve” was the title of a post on the Ron Paul Forums in 2007.
 
 
3 September 1967, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “The World Sugar Market: For Many Investors, It Leaves Bitter Taste” by Ernest A. Schonberger, pg. G10:
“No man is bigger than the market.”
 
7 January 1980, New York (NY)

, “Futures Deliveries Stir Concern; Commodities Futures Deliveries Stir Worry Concern About Price Rise” by Karen W. Arenson, pg. D1:
“There was once a maxim that nobody is bigger than the market,” commented Mr. Stone. “But I’ve had traders say that is no longer true.”
 
19 February 1980, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “Nelson Hunt May Be Bigger Than Silver Futures Market” (AP), pt. 4, pg. E1:
At stock and commodities exchanges there’s an adage that “No man is bigger than the market.”
 
7 July 1980, San Diego (CA) Union, “Bulls and Bear: Texas Heat Makes Midwest Jittery” by Helen L. Call, pg. A-9, col. 1:
“Cocoa provides this year’s second classic example (silver is the first) of the old adage, ‘No one is bigger than the market,’” say Smith Barney Harris Upham analysts.
 
Google Books
High Steppers, Fallen Angels, and Lollipops:
Wall Street Slang
By Kathleen Odean
New York, NY: Dodd, Mead
1988
Pg. 181:
The Wall Street adage “No person is bigger than the market” rang as true then as it does now, judging from how many great market figures fell from glory.
 
Google Books
Trading in the Global Currency Markets
By Cornelius Luca
New York, NY: Prentice Hall Press
2007
Pg. 127:
Nobody is bigger than the market.
     
Ron Paul Forums
ghemminger
08-13-2007 04:39 PM
No one is Bigger than the Market - Even the Fed Reserve
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbDft-YyyYc
 
Google Books
Fire Sale:
How to Buy US Foreclosures
By Philip McKernan
Mississauga, Ontario: John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd.
2010
Pg. 50:
A smart investor once told me that no man is bigger than the market.
 
Twitter
NYU Stern‏
@NYUStern  
No one is bigger than the Market, not even Ben Bernanke writes Prof @aswathdamodaran http://ow.ly/mgXiv
1:54 PM - 21 Jun 13