Australia not to be out done

http://online.wsj.co...=googlenews_wsj

The commission noted that the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and Canada's Ontario market had all decided late last week to crack down on covered short-selling, raising the risk that short-sellers would now "attack" Australia.

http://www.reuters.c...D18763920080921

I think it will become just not worth it to the high profile short sellers out there. It is less the outright ban and more the building witchhunt mentality that will prevail. Every bear market needs to hang someone out to dry. Earlier this decade it was the Bernie Ebbers of the world. I am not suggesting that short sellers have done anything wrong I am just suggesting the perception will build that they are the bad guys and we must always get the bad guys. I do think it is kind of funny that while GS made money on the short side it was just fine and only when it affected their stock this week did we see some push back from the powers that be.

I think it will become just not worth it to the high profile short sellers out there. It is less the outright ban and more the building witchhunt mentality that will prevail. Every bear market needs to hang someone out to dry. Earlier this decade it was the Bernie Ebbers of the world.

I am not suggesting that short sellers have done anything wrong I am just suggesting the perception will build that they are the bad guys and we must always get the bad guys.

I do think it is kind of funny that while GS made money on the short side it was just fine and only when it affected their stock this week did we see some push back from the powers that be.

Yup, and the same short sellers who were hailed as heroes for uncovering the mess in Enron and Lehman are now evil. But traders who push prices to extremes in stocks are not evil but victims at the bubble peak. Then the other side is oil traders who do the same thing are evil.

History will always write the news to match prices rather than other way around.