February 11, 2009
The message and logic are clear and simple - YOU SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SELL WHAT YOU DON'T OWN. Short selling is selling shares in a company you don't own. The "bet" is that the company's market value will decline. As a short seller, you are BETTING that a company's value goes down. Actually, you are not only betting, with computerized trading and concerted efforts by hedge funds, terrorist organizations, etc., you are intentionally causing the decline in the market value of a company, with those who are long getting screwed due to margin calls, stop limits, automated trading models, etc.
It is simply anti-business, anti-capitalistic to allow traders to cause the decline in a company's valuation by selling the company they don't even own. To all of you who say it creates liquidity, that is a bunch of crap. Don't give me that. It creates trading opportunities, and possibly more liquidity, but it is NOT consistent with basic fundamentals of capitalism and stock ownership. If you don't like a company or think it's stock is overpriced, then don't buy it. BUT YOU SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO BET THAT IT WILL DECLINE IN PRICE BY SELLING WHAT YOU DON'T OWN!!!!
I'm not interested in temporary restrictions or up-tick rule enforcement. What our markets need is a ban on short selling. If a company cannot control, directly or indirectly, a particular dynamic, then it should not be allowed to take place, and certainly not sanctioned by the SEC! Companies already face tremendous pressure in today's climate to produce and sell goods and services for a profit. They have to deal with competition. Production processes, Quality control. Employee satisfaction. Credit management. Treasury management. Public and private debt and equity markets. BUT, THEY CANNOT DEAL WITH THOSE WHO SHORT SELL THEIR COMPANY SHARES. This is COMPLETELY OUT OF THEIR CONTROL and should be BANNED. Why has our capital and economic system allowed this to occur?! It's WRONG.