May 6, 2009
To whom it may concern------
I have always tried to play by the rules. I have attempted to fund my own retirement by making safe and secure investments. The stock equities in my retirement accounts are held in 'street form.' Last summer, I thought I was safely invested with a large part of my portfolio in Banks, Insurance, and drugs. Needless to say, my portfolio, like millions of other people, was crushed in the past year.
What really disturbed me during the past year was watching while the SEC did 'nothing' to stop the short selling which targeted Banks and other companies. I was 'shocked' to learn that these short sellers were probably borrowing my stock in order to drive my stock holdings further into the ground.
This is NOT RIGHT. Admittedly, I am not a fan of 'short selling.' But......these 'short seller traders' have to be stopped, and I believe the best way to stop them is make sure that they own the stock before they are allowed to short it. Do the people shorting the stock own it? I doubt it. Sometimes I have the feeling that the SEC favors the large institutional short sellers over the individual investors.
This country was built on concepts of capital formation and hard work. The short sellers have only their own greed at heart, and would rather see the country's economy destroyed as long as they make money. They contribute nothing toward the formation of capital, and their efforts lead only to unemployment and continued recession.
I believe that the SEC should reinstate the Uptick rule, and take whatever measures are necessary so that individual investors like myself have a 'level playing field.'
In a nutshell, in order to restore the trust necessary so that the Americans will believe in the fairness of the equity markets, the Short Sellers must be stopped or controlled.