August 13, 2008
Hello,
When the SEC put emergency rules in place to protect the largest banks, it should have been obvious that the short sellers would simply prey on regional banks. There was even an opinion piece in the WSJ to this effect. Yet the SEC did not expand the rules. Now the short sellers are pressuring the stocks of regional banks down, as stated in a recent Reuters news article.
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINN1150089420080811?rpc=44&pageNumber=4&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true
It is time for the SEC to expand these rules to cover the regional banks as well. Short sellers are essentially robbing the shareholders of all the stocks' value.
I am an owner of many shares of stock in one of these banks, Regions Financial (RF). I should not have to stand by and watch the short sellers drain all the value of my stocks because the SEC is only willing to protect the large institutions. The SEC should never have allowed naked short selling to begin with.
Please at least expand the rules to cover regional banks. However, in my opinion, the SEC should stop all naked short selling. The short sellers provide no value to the market or the economy whatsoever. They simply drain the value into their own pockets. Please act to stop this abhorrent practice immediately.
Thank you,
Frank Baird