I find the idea of restricting access to financial tools extremely offensive. The market is built around the concept of public availability. Restricting access to certain stocks or tools simply because an elite few deem them unfit for the unwashed masses is egotistical and morally reprehensible. Please do not create a private walled garden around inverse and leveraged funds. Consider the scenario where company A is struggling. Investor 1 has invested in the stock, but Investor 2 shorts it. When the stock goes down, the money does not simply evaporate -- in essence it is indirectly transferred from Investor 1 to 2. Now imagine that restrictions are put in place so that only the rich and powerful are permitted to short a stock. Would the same occurrence not happen? Of course it would, but the restrictions would guarantee that Investor 2 is already a rich man. If the desire is to create a closed market where only the rich and well-connected can benefit, by all means, implement the restrictions. Imposing such heavy-handed regulation would doubtlessly cause frustration and leave untold numbers of "little guys" looking for an outlet to vent that frustration. I would be very surprised if the result was not an endless wave of GameStop-style short squeezes. Artificial manipulation of the markets is only going to result in more artificial manipulation.
Adam Morrison Comment On Regulatory Notice 22-08
I find the idea of restricting access to financial tools extremely offensive. The market is built around the concept of public availability. Restricting access to certain stocks or tools simply because an elite few deem them unfit for the unwashed masses is egotistical and morally reprehensible. Please do not create a private walled garden around inverse and leveraged funds. Consider the scenario where company A is struggling. Investor 1 has invested in the stock, but Investor 2 shorts it. When the stock goes down, the money does not simply evaporate -- in essence it is indirectly transferred from Investor 1 to 2. Now imagine that restrictions are put in place so that only the rich and powerful are permitted to short a stock. Would the same occurrence not happen? Of course it would, but the restrictions would guarantee that Investor 2 is already a rich man. If the desire is to create a closed market where only the rich and well-connected can benefit, by all means, implement the restrictions. Imposing such heavy-handed regulation would doubtlessly cause frustration and leave untold numbers of "little guys" looking for an outlet to vent that frustration. I would be very surprised if the result was not an endless wave of GameStop-style short squeezes. Artificial manipulation of the markets is only going to result in more artificial manipulation.