March 19, 2008
Short selling should be legal and helps to curb excesses in the market.
Naked short selling, with the accompanying phenomena of FTDs should certainly be illegal and is currently, except for the MMs in the market, who are apparently selling these rights to Hedge Funds in a very convoluted scheme of transfer.
The uptick rule needs to be reinstated.
The MM exemption needs to be rescinded.
Enforcement is needed regarding FTDs and it should have some real teeth, not the milk toast treatment we now see. Jail would be appropriate, because this is Grand Theft on a grand scale and it ruins the confidence investors might have in the markets.
Just taking these steps would go a long way toward erasing the enmity thatt investors feel toward the SEC and the would give retail investors the confidence that the playing field is somewhat level, and that the MMs and the HFs and the institutional investors are not guaranteed to be on the winning side of every trade.
Thank you in advance for making these changes.