[gitmo]

.. the other issue is companies like TD ameritrade loaned out stock for hedge funds to short. What happens if that fund goes belly up and now they can’t get the stock back

I was under the impression the entity shorting had to put up money to cover the purchase.

[TigerClaws]

Hmmm ... what would happen if all these guys requested physical stock certificates?

As an owner you can do that for most companies. That way it’s a physical piece of instrument and can’t be loaned, forced sell etc.

[RummyChick]

Margin