[SAJ]

Sorry, mate, but you can't get rid of short selling w/o completely rewriting the rules of NYSE (and, here's a tip -- that ain't gonna happen until everything goes totally electronic...which will have its own set of problems). Who do you think the great majority of the shorts are, in listed stocks on a daily basis? Not every day, mind, but on any given day. It's not funds, not individuals, not banks -- it's the floor, the specialists. They're required BY RULE to make a market and complete a transaction. If -- as happens every day except big down days -- they haven't any shares on book, and a buy order comes in, doesn't matter, they MUST complete the transaction...which in this situation means ''get short''.

[justshutupandtakeit]

As I said other countries have banned short selling in their stock exchanges so that is not an issue. There is no doubt that this is the activity of specialists.