Is it cheating to ban short selling?

re: Is it cheating to ban short selling?

BilDing — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 02:09:34 GMT

Here we are, 2 months later, with the shorts still having unfettered entitlement to pillage the rapidly reducing wealth of true investors. Any suggestions that this straight line plunge to market levels of 5 years ago cannot be laid at the feet of short sellers, are as absurd as saying that investment houses were appropriately regulated over these past 5 years.

re: Is it cheating to ban short selling?

Gord — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:52:19 GMT

Instead of the feds using the 700 billion to give to investment houses, I wish that they had allotted a few billion to trade actively during the day to offset short sellers. Don't give me that Sh_t that the shorts help the market, that is pure B/S created by the millionaires and billionaire to rape and pillage at will. First of all most of the big short players are doing naked shorts. Why not let the shorts trade on their own exchange. It is too easy to pay off a broker or analyst to get them to say something about a stock before it is shorted.

I don't expect anything to happen though because this contempt for normal investors is rampant thru out the market

re: Is it cheating to ban short selling?

Tony — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:50:14 GMT

It would be nice to see all the brokers who work with short sellers get laid off when their own companies take a beating in the market.

re: Is it cheating to ban short selling?

Jason in NJ — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:32:12 GMT

Back when the S&P500 fell beneath its 200 DMA on December 11th, 2007, I opened a large short position via Proshares SDS (2x short S&P) at a share price of $52.50. There was nothing blatantly special about how I went about doing this, I logged on my online broker, typed in buy x shares SDS at market price, & the transaction was done. As of today's close, SDS share price is $73.48, giving me a gain of 40% in the past 9.5 months. I am not a hedge fund, I simply do my own research & pay attention to the internals of the markets. I didn't pay anyone to make me lots of money, just pursuing the American dream as I see it, which is entrepreneurial innovation. If you are losing today, focus on why & what you can do to improve your investments so next time a bear market starts, you position properly for it.

Also, when the S&P 500 moves above a flatlined 200 DMA in the future (2009-2010) I will go long w/ leverage via ETFs, why not profit from both sides of the market's moves, anyone w/ a brokerage account can do exactly as I have done. Please do research & stop thinking that this is a rich vs. poor class struggle. Banning short-sales is legerdemain from the true issues causing last week's decline, which was systemic deleveraging pure & simple.

re: Is it cheating to ban short selling?

b bean — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:32:03 GMT

When the average person can't put money in the market in solid companies with dividends and just leave it long term there is something wrong. It's a casino with manipulation going on, too many analysts. Too much greed.

re: Is it cheating to ban short selling?

RYY — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 06:05:50 GMT

While we are at it, let's ban all trend trading systems, which is really the problem, isn't it. Let's ban anything and everything we want to, just like a dictatorship. We are (have been) mostly in a down trending market. The only reason I am or would be short is if the markets tell me that is the direction I should trade. It is not about greed, it is about common sense.

Our government overspends and our citizens overspend. We have debt problems. It finally caught up with us and the markets are trying to tell us that! When the markets start telling me to buy, I'll buy, but not with the intent of destroying something or someone.

Most who are against shorting are against it with malice and deliberate intent to destroy or break the back of the shorts. This includes, what eight central banks, and the U.S. federal government, our God these days. I marvel at the power of the corrupt bastards! It is the government's constant medling and artificailly propping up and maniupulating markets that is (or has put off) the problem and we cry out to them for the solution. I don't know how long this band aide will last, but that is all it is. It may last another twenty, fifty, hundred years, who knows. Somehow it takes much longer than it seems it should.

I don't know why "we" are concerned about all this debt the taxpayers are assuming, it'll never be paid back. And they say never say never. Hell "they" don't even intend to pay it back; not with today's dollars for sure. Our country is already bankrupt. The social security trust fund is not even sound, let alone all these other entitlements we can't fund. Let alone a war that seems to be never ending.

I continue to contend our government tries to do way too much. But since the citizens damand it, what can one do. Our largest enemy is our own government and the people continue to empower it.

Glad to get that off my chest!

re: Is it cheating to ban short selling?

kilo — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 05:14:38 GMT

Banning short sales is a mistake..The market tanked today without any short sellers..the market will continue to tank.

re: Is it cheating to ban short selling?

Lawrence — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:09:40 GMT

To ban short selling we need to look at those who have made tremendous profits during these last four weeks. Believe me it is not your average Joe but those with inside info and the funds to buy large quantities of stocks. Mr Soros made millions of dollars from selling short and other fat cats in the inner circle also benefited from this chaos but that is part of the free enterprise capital system. Greed and the ruthless but legal leaders of our country will destroy us.This is a sad day in our country history and all great empires from the past collasped from within and we are on the same course

re: Is it cheating to ban short selling?

USSA — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:04:55 GMT

yes dr you're absolutely right... ALL short sales should be banned

actually they should ban ALL selling under the last tick (price) that way prices only go up.

soon we'll all be billionaires, earning 12 digit salaries with multibillion dollar portfolios

of course a Big Mac will cost $4million, but that's alright, Zimbabwe has shown how 4 million percent inflation is a good thing, cos the stock market just goes up and up and up and up.

re: Is it cheating to ban short selling?

ChicagoAl — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 22:26:43 GMT

Naked short selling should be outlawed. Selling without having to cover by borrowing the stock has turned the stock market into a big gambling hall for the

Hedge funds to rape the investors like your pensions and 401Ks. Soros and his type make billions wiping out our stock values. One example since naked short selling began, Public Employee pension funds have gone from 100 billion ahead to 800 billion underwater(Source Businessweek). Who will have to make that loss up?

The taxpayer. Please remember it was Bill Clinton who deregulated this in '98.