June 4, 2009
Short selling has to be curtailed, period. Capital markets exist to raise capital, investment captal. After the uptick rule was abandoned, I heard comments by traders on CNBC applauding the move saying short sellers needed an "even playing field." I was stunned. That's just greed gone insane. Capital markets are supposed to be biased to the upside. Who wants to invest in a market in which there is an "even playing field," a 50/50 chance wealth invested will crash and burn. The past couple of years have no doubt been great for traders--it's been a trader's playground. But now the question is: do we want to return to a capital investment market. If we do, and if we want to attract the billions languishing in money market funds back into capital investment, we had better put the brakes on short selling, and the sooner the better.
Kent Hendrickson