July 25, 2008
After having been involved with the markets on an almost daily basis for the past 10 years (almost since the LTCM debacle) I can say with certainity that naked-short selling has gone far in putting a very large question mark on the credibility of the SEC.
American businesses and people have suffered irreparable damage because this very serious problem has been "enabled" by the SEC. I suspect that the issue is going to garner significant attention, based on material that I read and people I talk to.
I urge the SEC to correct this problem without further delay. Naked-shorting by anyone should be prohibited --- without exception Broker-dealers who currently naked short will have to find a way to make markets without naked-shorting, or be willing to return 90% of their market-making profits to the taxpayers.
There is no other alternative if the U.S intends to support legal and credible equity markets.