May. 14, 2020
It is despicable to allow hedge funds and institutions and in general, large investors to sell short without an uptick rule. It is grossly taking advantage of the retail public, along with being an important contribution to the pandemic mass sell-off. It is because Goldman Sachs and peers with partners earning 30 + million annually make the rules and the SEC staff are intimidated by the big corporate money makers. When I was involved in working with the SEC in the development of the CBOE, the SEC always had a balanced approach to making new margin rules to incorporate options. Someone at the SEC may be getting a suitcase full of cash to allow the absence of an uptick rule to continue.