February 23, 2004
This rule would be a step in the right direction. Greater transparency is needed in the public trading of stock, as demonstrated by the staggering volume of recent wrongdoing that has come to light, both from the traded companies, and the firms that trade the stock. There will be whining about the cost of compliance with the rule, but the cost will be minscule compared to the cost taxpayers and small investors recently sustained as a consequence of the lack of transparency in trading.
There seems to be a belief that we somehow NEED to have a stock market, period. This is false, in that what we need is an ETHICAL stock market, or to outlaw the practice entirely. What we dont need is the pirate in a suit, like the people who made so much money off bilking investors in recent years.
So lets put this rule in place and gain the benefit of additional transparency in stock trades.