May 4, 2009
I urge the SEC to reinstitute the uptick rule that was previously in place for 70 years to restore confidence of individual retail investors in the integrity of the market.
The 2004 study was not a valid representation of reality, since it was a dominate bull-market period. In 2008-2009, we see the effects of elimination of the uptick rule in a bear market, and it has been used by financial predators to destroy viable companies and destroy the investments of individual investors.
In 2008, the SEC also failed to enforce the rules prohibiting naked short selling, exacerbating the problem. Naked shorting is not only selling something you don't own, it's selling something that doesn't exist. How could SEC allow that to happen?
The interests of the short sellers are opposed to the interests of stockholders. The SEC should prohibit brokerage houses from lending shares to short sellers unless they have permission of the stockholders.