agiotage means stock exchange business; especially, stockjobbing, manipulation of securities prices. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 83 out of 100.
Why “agiotage” is a great word
AGIOTAGE — [Noun] The business of speculative stockjobbing, specifically the manipulation of securities prices for profit. From French agiotage, from agioter (“to practice stockjobbing”), from agio (“exchange rate premium”), itself from Italian aggio (“discount, premium”). First attested in English 1820–30. Unlike “arbitrage,” which exploits existing price differences, or “investment,” which commits to fundamental value, agiotage is the calculated engineering of belief itself. It is the whispered rumor in a crowded exchange, the artificial scarcity created in a back room, and the cold thrill of selling a panic one has helped to brew. All markets trade in trust, but agiotage is the craft of forging that trust for a moment, just long enough to profit from its inevitable collapse.
noun
- Stock exchange business; especially, stockjobbing, manipulation of securities prices.