May 11, 2009
The uptick rule was devised by former short sellers that made a killing, but also almost killed the market doing so. They deemed it necessary to protect the market in the future. That is now more important than ever since so many people are in stock market in some capacity compared to previous eras. More market stability is a good thing for the 401k plans people are involved with that have mutual funds that do not protect their investments by pulling the money in bad times to not miss a "big run."
The study to remove the uptick rule wasn't done in a time period when it would prove any points either (sell off conditions).
The original uptick rule is still the best plan we have seen.