May 8, 2009
Why is a stock that I own allowed to be taken from me and sold without my permission and without paying me a rental fee. A stock is just as much of a posession as a house or even my shoes. No one should be allowed to take it without permission. And if they ask for permission why can I not recieve a fee? By selling my property short they are hurting the overall value of my asset which injures me.
The argument that short sellers serve a purpose in the market is true. But they don't have to pay me a premium for borrowing my property. So they get to injure my net worth without compensating me. In the meantime they get the use of the cash recieved from the sale which enriches themselves, still to my detriment.
The argument that why are bulls allowed to take a stock up? is ridiculous. It is my property. I payed for it. It is not your concern what I pay for it. I can buy or sell my property at my discretion. The question to ask is why is someone allowed to sell property he does not own?
I believe short selling a stock should be banned. People that have negative views on a stock have other ways of profiting from it's decline. They can use put options, or sell call options. But no one can take my house from me and sell it, why can they take my stock? This makes no sense.