Sorry for the short post, no pun intended, but this jumped off the page at me when I read it. Bush thought it would be a great idea to a bring back a practice blamed for causing the Great Depression? Is this a joke? From RealClearPolitics.com:
The government concluded during the Great Depression that short-selling exacerbated the market collapse. A so-called uptick rule was implemented in 1938 to regulate bearish traders to only shorting a stock on the uptick--when the price has increased. The Securities and Exchange Commission canceled the rule in 2007.
The impact of the uptick rule is debated. But no less than Wall Street giant Charles Schwab wrote in December that the uptick rule, "slowed the short selling process making it more expensive and limiting the ability of short sellers to manipulate stocks lower by piling on, driving the share price quickly down and quickly profiting from the downdraft they created." And as Schwab put it, "without this vital control mechanism, short-sellers have been having a field day."
I'm speechless. More excerpts below.
SEC chairwoman Mary Schapiro said in January that she would look into short selling and reinstating the uptick rule. Earlier this week, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank, triggered buzz on Wall Street when he said, "I am hopeful the uptick rule will be restored within a month. Mary is moving towards the uptick rule."
Some Wall Street veterans are asking what's taking so long? Pavlik believes, like Schwab, the uptick rule would have "slowed the decline."