February 19, 2010
Although the purpose is nice, and should have been from the beginning, worry that the attempt will be wasted. Looks like it is adding paper jargon, complexity, and difficult to maintain rules, prone to loopholes. It also supports, maintains big player monopoly, while the minority should be protected instead.
The goal is to keep it simple flourishing society - long term business, investor takes precedence gambling, or profit-oriented killing should be stopped and some one should not be risking, profiting at the cost of others - especially small, novice, common investors....
1. Naked short selling should be prohibited.
2. The borrowing of the stock has to be with the informed owners' approval, and free of any manipulation, or arm twisting. And, if they did, they should be rewarded, except legitimate commission.
3. Financial institutions, mutual funds, institutional players should not be able to participate in it, as it is gambling and not venture, business, or society building activity.
Finally, beyond this issue... Only when (1) real bottom line investors are treated as a real owners of businesses, (2) when all others including CEOs, analysts, wall street, institutions, mutual funds, and even Government (as all are reps, care takers) does there honest duty, with legitimate, humble earning as employees, and (3) when those owners have ultimate say in all business aspects, especially money then, and then only there will be a real reform, lasting legacy, history won't repeat, and we will be on a true, rightful path.