Quote from Landis82:
Stocks are not commodities.
They are REAL companies and the SEC's mission is to not only enforce market practices that ensure "fair and orderly" markets, but also the integrity of the market place.
http://www.sec.gov/answers/circuit.htm
Yah, and how do you figure that the "integrity of the market" is increased or helped by giving one group of market participants (buyers) an intrinsic advantage over another group of market participants (sellers).
If their job is really to ensure integrity in the marketplace, I would think that would include creating an equal and level playing field for both bulls and bears.
How come people only complain when the markets go down too fast or too much, but have no problem when the markets go up too fast or too much. Runaway markets to the upside can lead to just as many market dislocations as a runaway market to the downside, and yet its only during a bear market that people bitch and moan. Say what you want to about short sellers, but at least you never hear them bitching and moaning when the market goes up and they get hammered... they just sit back and take their losses and keep quiet. But when the market goes down, man, do the buy and holds whine and cry and pout like babies... not to mention blame everybody else for their trades that don't work out.
And in regards to your "velocity of the markets" argument, I would suggest that the introduction of computers and screen based trading has had a much greater impact on market volatility than the elimination of the uptick rule. Why aren't you calling for an elimination or repeal of computer based trading? And really, who cares if the markets are more volatile (or have more velocity) now than they were (or did) 10, 50, or 100 years ago... Last I checked, markets are always changing, and just because they are like this today doesn't mean they'll be this way forever. Isn't adapting to the current market conditions a touchstone of trading?
And in a general sense, what kind of traders complain anyways about too much volatility and velocity in the markets? Is it just too easy to make money in these markets and you feel guilty
In my opinion, the elimination of the uptick rule was a move towards fairness by treating bulls and bears fairly and equally, while ensuring that neither had an advantage over the other. Now if you want to give the bulls an advantage over the bears thats fine, but just don't do it under the auspices of fairness and integrity because its the exact opposite.