Mar. 31, 2023
Hello, I'm writing in support of the above-mentioned proposal. Yes, please enact these changes. The section I most agree with is taken directly from the document: " “Today’s markets are not as fair and competitive as possible for individual investors — everyday retail investors. This is in part because there isn’t a level playing field among different parts of the market: wholesalers, dark pools, and lit exchanges,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. “Further, the markets have become increasingly hidden from view, especially for individual investors. " Absolutely! It is refreshing to see some positive action that helps protect smaller investors. I've largely given up making individual investments based on prior bad experiences, all related to insider trading. The weakening of the SEC rules over the past several years has accelerated the gap in haves and have-nots. I have a PhD in Chemistry and an MBA in Marketing, and can read financial reports and prospectūs. But those can't help me in today's trading environment. I have no access to insider information, nor an internal trading exchange where I can hide transactions that provide the company preferential trading transactions. I have lost money due to insider trading and have been bilked for small amounts whenever I buy or sell a stock. I've come to view the stock market as a third world aristocracy. The power belongs to a few, and this group bends the rules either by hiding the facts, or by lobbying to have the more restrictive rules weakened, just enough for them to profit. I bought Enron based on Enron's president assuring that there was "nothing wrong." I sold a stock on an unusual uptick, only to have it soar 2 days later in an acquisition bid. The insiders stole my shares. Banks such as SVB flaunt the rules in the expectation that if anything goes wrong, they will be saved by the government. Please stop these attacks on our financial system. The SEC is the best mechanism in our government to understand the situation and to take steps to terminate it. The document you have submitted for review is well-written and to the point. Reduce the fraud perpetuated by institutions such as Citadel and level the playing field. Why should a small group of traders profit from such a monopoly? It degrades the trust in our financial system. Please don't let that happen. I would also suggest adding stiffer penalties and a funded mechanism for prosecution. The existing penalties are too easy to avoid and are really effective for people making such high incomes. Please pass the rule and implement it with enough news to alert all the traders who count on the existing rules. The current laws are doing little other than to provide tyalking points about "too much regulation." Thanks, Bob Spillman