December 26, 2009
Has there been any action on the implementation of some sort of 'uptick' rule?
As I understand the former rule (used for about 75 years), the purpose was to assure that there was some kind of buyer interest before one could sell the stock of a company in which he had no investment. In fragile markets, the removal of this rule clearly gave a market advantage to 'strangers to a company' over pensioners, employees, and stock holders of the same company.
There is only one reason to have removed the uptick rule and that is to give trading privileges to those who would 'pile onto' a falling stock. Gambling with options does enough to undermine the concept of investing in corporate stocks without the added volitility of selling short without first proving there is a market for a stock.
Please reinstate the original uptick rule.
Sincerely,
Gaylord Rohloff
Gaylord Rohloff, CFP
Western International Securities