Today, Rep. Barney Frank, head of the House Financial Services Committee, said he expects the SEC to bring back the "uptick" rule--which was eliminated in June 2007.
So what's this uptick rule? Here are the basics:
- The rule essentially put constraints on short-selling (read more about how short-selling works here.) It calls for short-sellers to sell at a price higher than the previous trade.
- The uptick rule was originally put in place following the Great Depression, to keep short-sellers from piling on and quickly driving the price of a stock up or down.
- The SEC killed the rule in 2007 on grounds that it didn't prevent market manipulation.
- Some think the rule's elimination fueled the market's plunge by pushing battered stocks down even further. One critic went so far as to say it was an "aphrodisiac for volatility."
- The idea is that reinstating the uptick rule will help calm the markets.

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sharron 8:36PM March 10, 2009
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