September 30, 2009
Please seriously consider the following three items during your SEC hearing proceedings:
1. The re-institution of the "uptick rule" regarding short sales to eliminate "bear raids" that distort the free market system.
2. The prosecution of "naked short sales" to the fullest extent of the law. Basically, I believe that the enforcement of the security laws that are currently on the books will send a clear signal to the abusers that the manipulation of free markets will not be tolerated. It may be surprising to see how rapidly the frequency of this already-illegal practice decreases once some serious prosecutions are publicized.
3. The enforcement of rational-sized position limits on the commodity exchanges. Only allow position limit exemptions to the legitimate producers and consumers of these commodities, not the excessively overleveraged hedge funds/investment banks that act to distort the free market system for their own advantage and to the detriment of all other market participants
Thank you for your consideration of these three bullet items that I have above. I will be watching the SEC hearings on the SEC website with great interest.
Sincerely,
Thomas A. Laursen