May 5, 2009
As an individual investor I encourage you to institute the most restrictive measures possible on shortselling. This would help restore confidence in the market by individulal investors.
It seems very unlikely that it was a coincidence that the rapid declines seen in the market in the current downturn occurred almost immediately after eliminating the uptick rule that had been in place since the Great Depression. As a former regulator in a different industry, I am very suspect of the testing done prior to removing the prior rule. Such testing can be easily manipulated and would not be representative of actual performance since it depends on the behavior of those being regulated.
Please note the positive behaviour of the market since reinstatement of the uptick rule has been seriously considered. It may or may not be related, but I fear that if you do not take strong action, more companies will be targeted in the near future. If fear becomes dominant again, you can undo all the work being done by the Fed and the Treasury to get us out of the recession. Please do not accept token or half-measures - show us that the individual investor is just as important as the hedge funds.