May 6, 2011
I would like to see short interest information be available to the public and reported in a timely manner so that interested investors can have more information about factors directly affecting share price, and can make trading decisions based on current, not outdated, research. A bi-monthly report about short interest published eight days later tells me what the short interest situation was, not what it is now it doesn't take long for a short attack to cause share price to go down (especially with the help of biased, articles written by shareholders making damaging but unsupported allegations and speculations), but it will make a huge difference to me as an investor to know that an equity I am considering buying has recently come under short attack or has a large short interest. Updated information can help me, a self-directed retail investor, see what's causing share price to move and enable me to respond appropriately in a timely manner. Investors can only do due diligence with the information that is available to them, and increase transparency and current data will make the stock market a slightly more fair and level playing field.