September 2, 2007
I am a quantative research analyst with 38 years experience crunching numbers, financial type. If you at the SEC can't observe and figure out what's going on in wall street I feel very sorry for you and ask you to comtemplate doing something else for a living. At the top of the list is the options market maker short sale exemption which, in my mind, is the major profit driver of prime brokers and hedge funds with market making capabilities. This is a license to steal from baby boomers like myself and my clients trying to put together retirement nest eggs. It's downright thievery, and I'm ashamed that our politicians in power have let 70 years of fairness rules be thrown to the wayside. I'm also ashamed that the SEC has let wall street dictate the majority of rule changes you've made in the past few years. SHO is a prime example and needs to be thrown in the trash can, an absolute embarassment, if you study it carefully, to the concept of protecting investors, individual that is. Please strip the short sale exempt rule from your records and make all adhere to the same 3 day settlements, no exemptions. Thank you.