May 20, 2009
The economy and the stock market are inextricably connected. The economy will not recover until the stock market is fixed. It was broken when the uptick rule was rescinded. This gave pessimists (short-sellers) the upper hand, especially organized groups (possibly terrorists).
I therefore urge the SEC to reinstate a price test rule, and specifically would urge a plus tick rule over other alternatives such as a "best bid" or "circuit breaker" test. Also it needs to have few exceptions.
The market made a large surge the day a Senator said the uptick rule might be revived, but the significance was lost when other financial announcemnets were made at the same time.
As it stands the individual investor is at the mercy of the organized takedown, and most of the smarter investors realize this.