May 4, 2009
I am urging the reinstitution of the uptick rule as originally written. At the least, there should be an elimination of naked short selling, with severe penalties for infractions of the rule. This is the only way that the individual investor has a chance to to compete with the fund managers who, under current practice, have the capacity to drive down a stock's price for their own benefit without any regard for the underlying value of the company that is targeted. If this inequity is not addressed, the individual investor will eventually lose all faith in out markets and withdraw their money in favor of other less manipulated investment alternatives with long-term disasterous results for the equity markets.