This Just In... Cramer On NAKED SHORTING
SEC Emergency Order
SEC to Limit Short Sales of Fannie, Freddie, Brokers (Update6)
By Jesse Westbrook and David Scheer
July 15 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will limit the ability of traders to bet on a drop in shares of brokerage firms, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae as part of a crackdown on stock manipulation, the agency's chairman said.
Christopher Cox told the Senate Banking Committee the agency will require traders to hold shares of the two mortgage buyers and the brokerages before they execute a short sale. The order, to be in effect for as long as 30 days, will bar the practice called naked short selling, in which traders avoid the financial cost of borrowing shares when betting they'll fall.
``Since it's impossible to police false rumors, the next best option for protecting fragile financial institutions is to halt short-selling for a time being,'' said David Trone, analyst at Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller. ``The SEC's action is at least a partial measure.''
The SEC is investigating whether trading abuses contributed to the collapse of Bear Stearns Cos. in March and the 80 percent drop in the market value of larger rival Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. this year. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have each lost about 80 percent of their value amid speculation the mortgage-market crisis may push the firms into insolvency.
Hedge-fund manager William Ackman, who oversees $6 billion at Pershing Square Capital Management, is among those betting shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will fall. There's no indication he is engaging in naked short selling, in which traders never borrow shares from their broker or deliver the stock to buyers.
SEC Reluctance
The SEC had been reluctant to curb short sales ``because it would require a major retooling of the plumbing of Wall Street,'' said James Angel, a professor at Georgetown University studying short sales. ``It's only when the big Wall Street firms are threatened that the SEC does something about it.''
Cox said the SEC also will draft rules ``to address these same issues across the entire market.''
Short-sellers, who borrow shares betting that they'll decline, are spreading rumors about Lehman in an organized attempt to depress the stock, according to Richard Bove, bank analyst at Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. in Lutz, Florida.
``As with Bear Stearns, Lehman has been targeted by the fear- trade,'' Fox-Pitt's Trone in a report yesterday. Lehman should go private to avoid attacks by short-sellers, he said.
Freddie Mac, down as much as 34 percent today before Cox's comments, fell 26 percent to $5.26 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Fannie Mae tumbled 27 percent. Lehman rose 82 cents, or 6.6 percent, to $13.22, ending a four-day slide.
More Costly
The order, published today, requires anyone making a short sale to first ``borrow or arrange to borrow'' the securities and then deliver them by the settlement date. It applies to shares in 19 firms including Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and UBS AG.
The order takes effect on July 21 and expires at the end of July 29. It may be extended for a total of 30 calendar days.
The SEC's proposal will raise the cost of short-selling a stock, said Gregory DePetris, co-founder of Quadriserv Inc., a New York brokerage that specializes in securities lending. ``There will be greater demand for shares,'' he said. ``It will make the process a little less easy.''
In traditional short selling, traders borrow stock through a broker and hope to profit by selling shares at a higher price and later buying them back at lower prices to repay the loan.
Naked short selling isn't necessarily illegal, unless authorities can prove fraud, such as a scheme to manipulate stock prices.
`More Efficient'
``Short-sellers in general help price discovery and make the market more efficient,'' said Warren Chiang, a fund manager at Mellon Capital Management, which oversees about $200 billion. ``But naked shorting isn't fair.''
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer questioned whether the SEC should restore the so-called uptick rule, which barred traders from short-selling stocks when prices are falling. The rule, scrapped in June 2007, was implemented after the Great Depression to prevent raids on companies.
While the regulator is considering ``some other kind of price test'' to regulate short selling, it has no plans to reinstitute the uptick rule, Cox said. ``It was just very clear that that rule no longer mattered,'' he said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jesse Westbrook in Washington at jwestbrook1@bloomberg.net; David Scheer in New York at dscheer@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: July 15, 2008 21:07 EDT
Why is there ANY DELAY on instituting this Emergency Order across the WHOLE MARKET...??
There are already a number of rules and proposals that should be ENFORCED to STOP NAKED SHORT SELLING...!!
My comment letter submitted to the SEC...
Thank you for taking the time to comment on this release.
Your comments for file number S7-19-07 were received on July 15, 2008.
Please save this page for your records.
Comments received from:
Outraged Investor
Damaged Outraged Shareholder
New Jersey
Comments:
Commissioner Cox...
I would like to congratulate you for publicly acknowledging the existence and dangers of NAKED SHORT SELLING.
You have demonstrated that recognition by instituting special safeguards against NAKED SHORT SELLING for the GSE's and the primary dealers.
Why aren't these emergency safeguards being put into effect for the WHOLE MARKET...??
Is it because the GOVERNMENT is the one who would LOSE if these government and primary entities are SHORTED into oblivion...??
What about the countless companies and shareholders who have been RUINED by rampant NAKED SHORT SELLING...??
You are supposed to be protecting ALL COMPANIES and SHAREHOLDERS...
Do the right thing...
STOP NAKED SHORT SELLING for all INVESTORS and COMPANIES...
A Very Concerned Damaged Shareholder.
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