I also think this is complete and utter bullshit. Another way the power and money brokers are pulling the strings for their own benefit and at our expense. If short selling is banned it will be so certain groups can unload their longs. Complete and outright explicit manipulation through regulation. If I called Chuck Schumer to complain about this he wouldn't even take my call, but John mack calls, "oh yes sir, those terrible short sellers. Let me see what I can do." Why don't they just ban selling all together?
You say "Sellers will still sell" Have you any clue at all? A short seller is not a natural seller. Owners of MS or GS would not have sold them down as they were assaulted today. Or BK. Folks have to protect their wealth. If you own a stock , you can't just watch it drop 50% in an hour without taking action. Rarely does anyone have the balls in these circumstances to buy more. They sell, making the assault worse, and creating profit for the assailants. I have nothing against short selling. But the way it has been abused in the last months HAS to be addressed. Times change. Change with them or perish.
lol... I"m sick of goverment intervention in a free market....If someone would of come to me last summer and tell " oh SEC might ban Short selling" I would telling to go you know what... Banning short selling...ARE FUCKING KIDDING ME ?? unbelievable
Nothing prevents you from buying puts when you initiate your long position. But to buy puts, the options market maker needs to be able to sell the stock to hedge his position. I have nothing against short selling. But the way it has been abused in the last months HAS to be addressed. Times change. Change with them or perish. [/QUOTE] Isn't that a bit rich coming from a guy who wants to manipulate the market by preventing price discovery to keep his long positions from declining in value - at least nominally?
exactly. thats the way the government thinks right now. you have to remember with the flow of information today, and today's technology, everything is lightning quick.A selloff that took weeks to develop before, now takes minutes or an hour at most.Rules need to be changed to fit the times. Plus, believe it or not (yes I know some pols have their own agendas) the SEC et al are doing this to protect John Q Public.
It's even worse than this. When shorting financials was banned, "bona fide market makers" and "primary dealers" were exempt from the ban. That meant that Goldman traders could build huge short positions in LEH, WM, WB etc. at great prices while you and I couldn't. It's ironic, by banning short selling they'd be creating a situation that much more closely resembles a pool conspiracy than anything we have now.