February 25, 2022
A person who sells and destroys the value of your securities is not better than the man who burns down your house.
You can't sell a house you don't own, you can't sell a car you don't own, but you can sell a stock you don't own.
He who sells what isn't his'n, Must buy it back or go to prison.
These issues have been known for well over a century yet here we are still discussing it like it's a new topic. I support this SEC proposal for greater transparency but short selling in and of itself should be banned. Selling a stock that you do not own increases the supply of said stock which affects the supply and demand curve. The fact that firms can do this and then hide their holdings just invites them to commit securities fraud and never even locate the share to borrow. Naked short selling is a well known and out of control issue, Fails to deliver are a well known and out of control issue.
Please tell me we won't be having these same discussions in another 100 years.