Feb. 28, 2024
To Whom it May Concern: I am writing to voice my opinion in regards to the OCC looking to adjust parameters for calculating margin requirements during periods of high volatility. My opinion is that no such relief should be granted WHATSOEVER to those who make poorly-informed, fallible and risky bets, particularly those hedge funds who do not create but only destroy companies. I am at a loss as to why every governmental agency that is supported with tax payer dollars continues to make rules or adjust rules that favor the ultra rich and unscrupulous hedge funds instead of promoting market fairness and transparency. For those of us who have invested in Gamestop, we have seen well over the course of 3+ years every dirty trick in the book thrown at this stock to tank it’s price and prevent fair price discovery. If there are actors on the short side of the equation who are “too big to fail” then I say too bad. Let them fail. Your everyday average American is quite resilient and used to eating Ramen noodles three times a day to get by. If such actors are that entrenched in our economic system, then our elected representatives and the SEC have NOT been doing its job in protecting us from the consequences of such failure. Retail investors have played by every rule that exists. They have done nothing illegal or unfair and only hope that the system works equally for them as it does for Ken Griffin. However it has become nakedly apparent that no one in our elected government or regulatory agencies cares about the other 99% of people who fund said government. I’m sure that most people at the SEC think that they are good people. But the honest truth is that it is very similar to the FBI. Many good rank and file people in our governmental agencies are being manipulated into keeping their jobs for fear of termination if they call out the bad actors. I am certain that King Louis XVI did not expect the mob to storm the Bastille. But historically that is what happens when the government no longer serves its people. When their treasure is taken away from them to fund the greedy few, you can hardly be surprised by such results. I am of the opinion that we are edging ever closer to the time that your average American is feeling like every legitimate avenue of change is being closed to them and are starting to ask “what is it we have to do to get them to listen? Do we have any more options? Do we have to wait until we are eating rats?” Hyperbole aside here, we can not and SHOULD NOT continue to amend rules that serve the wealthy few. If Melvin Capital or Citadel has gambled on shorting a retail video game company, they deserve every consequence of losing that bet. They should not be allowed to draw the ace of spades they need to complete a royal flush on a napkin and have it be accepted by our regulatory agencies as a legitimate deck card to win their hand in this grand casino called the US stock market. If you amend these rules to adjust margin requirements, I can guarantee you that many will lose faith in the US stock market and withdraw. What will the government do when the world decides that investing in our markets is not trustworthy? As a retail investor who simply wants the system to function equally for all parties including my future generations, I am asking you to take a principled stand and reject these new rules. You owe it to those who legitimately pay their taxes for a government that is supposed to serve them. Thank you, A concerned US citizen Sent with Proton Mail secure email.