Quote from cybtropic:
I've been shorting long before the uptick rule was repealed and never had a problem with this rule. Just because someone supports the rule doesn't mean they are against shorting.
You're lying. If you were trading equities back before the repeal, it was through your lame Ameritrade account, which makes you Joe Blow and makes your opinion and experience irrelevant.
During any massive dumps on any equity, there was a huge cushion of shorts built up with the uptick rule. Which only promoted heavier hitting down of the stock by daytraders, hedge funds and specialists/market makers.
I've seen stocks taken down points in a matter of minutes simply from a sizeable short sell order from an institution. Something that does not happen without the uptick rule as the short sell order actually gets filled on the existent bids.