May 8, 2009
Reinstate the uptick rule. Now
I urge the SEC to reinstate the protection afforded the average retail investor with the uptick (plus tick) rule, a price test rule, and over other alternatives such as a "best bid" or "circuit breaker" test. The Bush Administraiton, under the gross negligence of former SEC Chairman Cox, allowed naked short selling and eliminated the uptick rule. This allowed hedge funds to drive companies to the brink of insolvency by driving the price down without the constraints instituted to protect investors in the 1930s. If you fail to enforce the uptick rule, you will eliminate virtually all retail investors and eliminate investments by them even in mutual funds. Do not continue to allow the greed of a few to control the markets and destroy the faith in capitalism. I urge you to read your history of the 1930s and you will understand why the uptick rule was instituted and implemented.