The evidence of this is anecdotal, but I think this is a very real possibility. If so, then what we have here is yet another example of how the SEC's kowtowing to anti-naked-shorting nutcases has skewed its priorities and diverted the public's attention from real issues.
As I describe in Wall Street Versus America, elimination of the uptick rule was part of a package of regulations that included -- and was overshadowed by -- the ridiculous "Regulation SHO," which tackled the nonexistent "naked short-selling scandal."
Wall Street views Regulation SHO as a nuisance, not a threat to its livelihood. But the uptick rule was an obstacle to genuine (as opposed to phantom) short-selling.
So the Street was, I am sure, only too happy that Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne's lapdogs in the Utah congressional delegation railed away at Regulation SHO and the phantom menace of naked shorting -- while letting the uptick rule slip away.
And now the rest of us are paying the price.
Once again, the destructive force of the Baloney Brigade has been demonstrated.
