August 30, 2010
The SEC should be looking out for the individual investor. I seems that changes in recent years have gone back to the days of "bucket shops", when gambling and market manipulation by traders made large profits for a few. We should allow investing in the market with its' inherent risk, not gambling where the game can be rigged by a few.
Uncontrolled shorts by large traders contributed to the 2008 crash, drive down the prices of good companies, and create instability in the market every day. They should be outlawed or at least bring back the uptick rule. The market performed just fine while the rule was in place.
Derivatives and swaps are the bucket shops of old. They are gambling and should be eliminated. They were outlawed once because they caused a crash and then made legal because someone wanted to make a lot of money and created another crash. The market performed without them. If they are allowed to continue they should be heavily regulated as insurance with assets required to back them and a transparent market where they can be seen and tracked.
Brokers need to have a fiduciary duty to their clients. If they do not have that duty, they are incented to do what is best for their firm, not the client.
As we have all seen, without regulation and proper incentives, the players in this market will act in their own short term best interest.
Thank You for the opportunity to comments,
David Conley