The SEC has solicited public commentary on a proposal to reinstate the uptick rule, and you can read the submitted comments if you like. I do not recommend it, except for the submission from “Benjamin N. Dover III”.
The SEC’s regulatory mandate in a laissez-faire economy is two-fold. When stock prices are increasing, the SEC’s role is to ignore the market and market participants, thus allowing the invisible forces of the market to work their unregulated magic. When stock prices are decreasing, however, the SEC must intervene to stanch the loss of wealth that flows from a declining market. There is nothing “artificial†about selectively modifying rules that interfere with the market’s natural upward trajectory.
I love how he computes the 75-year annualized returns for the Dow. See if you can reproduce his math.
Culled from Zero Hedge. For earlier work by Mr. Dover, see his submission to the FDIC regarding the PPIP.
Ben Dover. Sounds like one of the credits at the end of Car Talk.
Isn’t the uptick rule related to checking your legs after hiking in tall grass?