June 18, 2009
The industry (judging from the letters that SEC received from traders) has profited tremendously from high volatility that resulted after the removal of the Uptick Rule and introduction of levered ETFs therefore, it is not surprising the industry is opposing the rule reinstatement.
Uncontrolled short selling DRAINS liquidity, (it is a myth that short sellers add to liquidity) the short sellers compete with panicky longs for the bids during selling panics (it artificially distorts the true price discovery). Traders are opposed to the uptick rule because they do not want to lose their ability to profit from people acting irrationally during fear driven irrational selling panics. If they are so sure that a stock is overvalued, they still can short a stock, only on uptick (true contrarian trade instead of manipulative violently hitting the bids with rapid artillery fire, pushing the stock price lower, creating selling panics, and then holding the stock to discourage buying).
In addition, EVERYONE MUST play by the same rules, there should not be any EXCEPTIONS (no Divine Right of Kings) for a selected group of individuals as market makers (letter from Dan Mathisson, Managing Director, Credit Suisse Securities clearly shows that Dan Mathisson feels entitled to a different set of rules from everyone else) – currently the game is rigged for Dan Mathisson to always win, to have an advantage over a regular investor. Such exceptions are completely against what this country stands for -- all men are created equal (Declaration of Independence) and we should not have special privileges for individuals as Mr. Mathisson.
Is it too much to ask for everyone to have equal opportunity to invest in the stock market and for everyone to follow the same rules?
Please restore fairness and restore the uptick rule
Sincerely,
Thomas Bach