March 13, 2009
No,no,no,no new up-tick rule.All the up-tick rule ever did, and all it was ever meant to do, was to exclude the small trader from half of the stock market. If the up-tick rule had any merrit then it is only reasonable that we should have a downtick rule as well! The up-tick rule never curbed shorting by the big money traders. If the big boys want the market to up-tick they make it up-tick and go on their merry way. The small trader obviously can"t do that. The Up-tick rule only affects the little guy and not the ones who really move the markets.
I am not gullible enough to expect a level playing field but I do expect to be able to place any trade I please. It is very difficult to place a SHORT trade as it is. The broker will tell me there are no shares availabe or take so long borrowing the available shares that the opportunity has passed before my position shows up in my account information. It is absolutely amazing how slow data moving at the speed of light in the information age can travel when I initiate a SHORT trade!
Don Sheridan