Date:    12/17/1999  1:00 AM
Subject: Proposed Rule FD

I completely agree with the rationale for the rule on Fair Disclosure 
described in http://www.sec.gov/news/extra/sdiscfaq.htm.
     
The opening paragraphs could not describe the situation more eloquently:
     
<i>The Commission has become increasingly concerned about the growing 
incidence of "selective disclosure" of material corporate information. In 
many reported incidents, companies selectively disclosed important 
information - such as upcoming earnings figures - in conference calls or 
meetings that are open only to selected securities analysts and/or 
institutional investors, and which exclude members of the public and the 
media. Those privy to selectively disclosed information have an unfair 
advantage over other investors, who learn of the information only if and 
when the issuer later makes full public disclosure. By that time, the 
information often has resulted in a significant change in the share price 
or higher than usual trading volume.
     
Selective disclosure undermines investor confidence in the integrity of our 
securities markets, and creates a serious potential for conflicts of interest 
by securities analysts. Chairman Levitt characterized this behind-the-scenes 
dissemination of information to analysts in his speech, Quality Information: 
The Lifeblood of Our Markets, before the New York Economic Club, as "a stain 
on our markets." </i>
     
Any lobbying by the financial services industry against proposed rule FD 
should be viewed with suspicion.  At the moment they are able to take 
advantage of the selective disclosure, and this is a conflict of interest 
with respect to their clients and the public at large.
     
I urge you to implement this proposed rule.
     
Thank you,
Alan Christensen
Associate Professor
University of Nebraska