Good post, El P !  I stated on a previous post (rant) that I was shocked to see that this type of criminal activity is allowed in the stock exchanges in 2007. We can impeach presidents, change gov'ts of other countries and land on Mars, yet we can't bring these hedgers to justice ? I don't get it.

In other words, these people are allowed to steal piles of money, with stocks they don't own and at the same time, devalue a company's true worth. How is that frikkin legal !

I say again to the Stock Exchanges, wake up !  This is 2007, not the 1930's.  Pulling these types of "players" off the market would only help the market, not hinder it. Sure, shorting is a necessary evil, but within reason and with a strict set of rules to follow ! What's happening now is just pure larceny and should dealt with on the same level as grand larceny in some instances.

I feel for our US friends who have to deal with these criminals on even worse terms than in Canada. I"m not sure who said this (maybe Old Joe), but in Asia, shorting is illegal. Hmmm, their markets are still running...maybe they have something there.....

This "old boy" system of trading is out of date and needs to be revised to today's standards. I cannot believe that the people who have power/money do not insist on changes to the trading laws in the market. Unless of course, they are part of this criminal activity.

I say, bring these criminals to justice and change the trading laws in the markets. There should be a committee/board set up to monitor the illegal shorting/hedging of funds.

I agree that shorting is necessary. It gives time for people to check out the companies, rather than just letting them go, based on speculation. But that's only up to a point. After that, it's just pure larceny of shareholder money and company value.

Finally, I say, why has nothing been done about this and how long will it continue to be allowed. Perhaps once we change the political parties in power of Canada & the US, we will see some justice. But under the current US President and the current Canadian Prime Minister, this will not happen. And that's because they are part of the "old boys" club.

Wake up, North America !! Time for change and moving forward, instead of backwards.

A fired up Stratopod !