I was just about to post the same article! I'm not really fluent in stock market happenings, so I was going to ask what this could mean for Germany and Europe. Anyone else have a good idea of the repercussions this could cause?

This is pretty huge. But thank you Germany for actually doing something that other are too corrupt or cowardly to do.

You may have just saved yourself.

marketwatch doesn't even have a one line update on this HUGE story. Events are happening too fast for censors to react. this must be a preemptive move in anticipation of something nasty.

As someone who has acted as a professional investor, anybody who wants to ban short selling or restrict it is offensively wrong. Perhaps these people can ban BUYING to prevent oil and gold from making sudden spikes up like they have been doing? As an investor, my best profit ever came from a sudden spike down during the 2001 stock market crash. So yes, I did short-sell near the top. And I made something like 30 to a record low -50% from the shorts because the market came back up so fast it ruined my shorts. But I did buy at near dead bottom of that crash and that is where I made the big money. I also wanted to buy at dead bottom of the most recent crash. I'm sorry, but I fail to see why presenting opportunities for people to buy at low prices is a bad thing.

People who don't understand a thing about investing need to back off because they don't understand who this effects. Sharp spikes like that which occurred recently effect TRADERS. They did nothing to effect long-term positions which don't get stopped out just because of a 10% one-day move. If long term positions are stopped out at all it should be at a 30% or 50% drop and if the market can drop 30% to 50% in one day there is a lot more going on than some high volume pump & dump trading!

And by the way the whole term pump & dump is about stock prices spiking UP and then having the high-volume bandit sell at the top for gains. Short selling only stops one version of this and it does so by screwing over EVERYONE! Its like banning gym memberships because one guy took steroids and blew out a bone joint. This overbearing authoritarianism accomplishes nothing except for contempt and lower market efficiency.

Edit - It would make much much more sense if it was really a ban on naked short-selling! Banning ordinary short sales should be illegal in and of itself as a violation of property rights. Banning naked short sales may or may not be criminal in and of itself depending on who is stopped from doing what.

[edit on 18-5-2010 by truthquest]

[edit on 18-5-2010 by truthquest]

If its in the MSM theres something fishy behind it. Smokescreen comes to mind. Someone of their cronnies will benefit big from this, otherwise they wouldnt do that.

And Germany the land of followers to leave the Euro? frigging NEVER. Been there my entire life, wont happen