March 3, 2009
Madam Chairman Schapiro,
I am writing to you as a professional securities representative who has served my clients with distinction for almost 15 years. The recent market volatility has been profound, and many of us in our offices, and around the industry are seeing the daily carnage that has been brought largely by short selling and naked short selling. My own company was the subject of this behavior back in September, and it almost ran our great company into the ground. While I understand the need and importance of shorting, the changes to the rules that were made regarding shorts has had a huge and detrimental effect, and this issue needs to be fixed. The shorts are running unabated, and there is nothing in place to prevent runs on any company(ies) short sellers choose.
I strongly encourage you to re-instate the uptick rules that were taken out in 2007, and also suggest that if you short, you need to have the stock in hand. I and many others around me feel this is a critical component to the stabilization and recovery of the financial markets. Without these rules, the damage will continue to ruin good, solid companies and thousands more jobs will be lost. The temporary ban last fall worked, and we saw unprecedented gains in stocks once the ban was in place. Please reinstate these rule once again, so the health of our financial markets can be restored before it is too late.
Most Sincerely Yours,
Matthew R. Kibbe
Registered Representative
Portland, OR