Yes there are professionals that work at this. I have been involved in two speculative stocks on NASDAQ (yes it happens on the big exchanges too) that plummeted between 50% & 75% due to this type of activity. You might be surprised at how organized it is. These are stocks with no revenue yet so they are very vulnerable. The SBs (slime balls) post articles on sights such as Seeking Alfa which get picked up by Yahoo Finance and other sites. These articles throw out stuff on the company and the executives that borders on slander and make fun of the product. As soon as the stock starts to fall supposed “law firms” start posting on the same sights saying they are launching class action law suits against the company for improperly promoting the stock (more lies). There are usually 3 – 5 or more of these firms posting. So when someone goes to read about the company all they see is negative information. They must make millions and they get away with it.