>You can see this for example in the absurd discrepancy between paper and physical crude prices.

This was a temporary discrepancy that has gone away now that physical prices have fallen.

This means the future traders were right; the $150+ prices for a physical barrel of oil were a short-term situation that would resolve in a few months. It was correct for futures to be priced substantially lower.

What's absurd is internet commentators thinking the market is broken because they see something they don't immediately understand.

> discrepancy between paper and physical crude prices

If you see mispricing, trade the hell out of it and pocket the cash before some hedge fund does. The system is rigged against us normal folk and given any opportunity to take money legally from the system, I absolutely would.

(Now sometimes, there are good reasons for paper and physical to differ, most particularly if the paper is structured in a high-risk way, and you need to be aware of that.)