May 4, 2009
In 2004, the Commission initiated a year-long pilot that eliminated short sale price test restrictions from approximately one-third of the largest stocks. The purpose of the pilot was to study how the removal of such short sale price test restrictions impacted the market for those subject securities.
The problem with this was that 2004 and 2005 were boom years for the the stock market and only one-third of the largest stocks were used. What about the little companies like, for example "Build a Bear" or "Garmin". If this study were done using numbers from the last several years, the outcome would be completely different than your prior conclusion.
We need to bring confidence back to individuals who are considering investing in the stock market again. Naked Short selling is definetely not going to motivate me to invest in the market.
Reinstate the uptick rule so I can invest in the stock market again without loosing sleep at night knowing short sellers are hard at work finding ways to screw me and my investments as they have the last several years.
Sincerely yours
Mario Lacaci, P.E.