May 4, 2009
Dear Chairman Schapiro and panel members,
I am retired and have watched my 401K and stock funds take a major hit as have many other Americans. I would just like to state my opinion regarding the reinstatement of the up-tick rule. First and foremost--we need it. I think that the correct methodology would be to favor the the "price test" approach since it would apply to all stocks. I feel the "circuit breaker" approach will be too difficult to enforce in a timely manner and thus the market pros will find a way to circumnavigate it to their benefit. I also believe that the ETF's which allow double shorting power, and now a request for triple shorting power of stocks is just a disaster in the making and need to be removed.
Last year I wrote to Chairman Fox asking for the up-tick rule to be reinstated and received a reply that basically told me why it was removed and how it was thoroughly tested. I don't see how the testing results of the prior up-tick rule could have been fair since it was performed in one of the biggest bull markets to date. However, Mr. Fox and his staff were defending it and sent me a large document (well over a hundred pages) for my reading enjoyment on how the test was performed and the results. The only problem is that along with the opening "Thank You for contacting the SEC" page was the addition of the large document, and to to make matters worse they decided to fax it to my home. Needless to say it ran the ink and paper out of my fax machine plus tied up my phone line for ever. I came home and after peeling my wife off the ceiling since she needed to use the phone I added more paper and ink and it started again from the beginning so I had to finally save it to memory and delete it. What a waste of time for all parties involved. I have to say that Mr. Fox made many mistakes during his time at the helm but that is the past and we should all learn from the past and take steps to improve the future whenever possible, and now is one of those times. So please just read my suggestion and you should not feel compelled to send me anything since I will be watching the meeting online.
Thanks for listening,
Dan Foster