May 27, 2009
Shorting contributes greatly to market efficiency and liquidity. Shorting should be restricted on a limited or temporary basis only when it is clearing being abused and only for the ones who are responsible for the abuse.
Why should shorting ever be restricted on stocks where only a small percentage of shares are short, e.g where less than 10% of total shares are short?
Why should small investors who have fewer than 5,000 shares shorted ever be restricted from shorting? Limit restrictions to those who have large short positions.
I employ a relative value investing strategy and I often short (and buy back) the same shares multiple times during the day. The only person who suffers is the market maker who has to lower his ask price and raise his bid price. Buyers and sellers benefit from the competition I provide.