[Almondjoy]

I never understood allowing short selling in the first place.

Where else in the market can you borrow something.. sell it.. and then buy it back later? Real Estate?

I say get real.

Market forces are about buying and selling.. letting the market determing the price of something.

Short sellers create artfical activity that would otherwise never take place... and yes that means when short sellers close a gap too.

Short selling is gambling.. always has been.. and I believe never been healthy for a market.

[what's up]

It's the brokers' prerogative whether or not they want to lend shares. They earn a commission for it. That's up to them.

If you believe in the free market you will see that shorting is actually the free markets at work.

Illegal naked selling (sliding thru the loopholes by not actually taking possession of shares you borrow) is another story.

[politicket]

I never understood allowing short selling in the first place.

I very rarely have participated in selling anything short - however, it is a very much needed component to form a proper market. You can't just have investors lining up on one side of the company's balance sheet. It would be too easy for that company to manipulate their worth and nobody would be the wiser.

[M-cubed]

U dont understand much about efficient markets do u?