Whale

A whale is an investor or institution with such substantial capital that their trading activity can significantly move market prices. The term evokes the image of a massive creature making waves - when whales enter or exit positions, the market feels the impact. Whales include hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. These entities might manage billions of dollars and trade in quantities that represent meaningful portions of a stock's daily volume. When a whale decides to buy or sell, they must do so carefully to avoid pushing prices against themselves. Whale watching - monitoring the trading activity of large investors - has become a popular strategy. Institutional investors must file regular disclosures (like 13F reports in the US) revealing their holdings. Other investors study these filings to see what smart money is buying and selling, though there's a delay between trades and disclosure. The impact of whales varies by market size. In large-cap stocks with billions of shares trading daily, even big trades are absorbed easily. In smaller stocks, cryptocurrency markets, or during periods of low liquidity, whale activity can cause dramatic price swings. A large order might push prices significantly as it absorbs available liquidity at various price levels. Some traders try to front-run whales - detecting large orders in the market and trading ahead of them to profit from the anticipated price movement. This activity, while sometimes controversial, is part of the complex ecosystem of modern markets. For individual investors, understanding that whales exist helps explain otherwise mysterious price movements. It also highlights the importance of liquidity - trading stocks with sufficient volume so that your orders, while smaller than whale orders, can still be executed at reasonable prices without undue market impact.