There is so much public data showing short positions that exceed the outstanding shares of multiple companies. Short positions should be reported at least weekly. This includes borrowed shares that are sold short, and put options. Firms that fail to deliver should be fined much more than they currently are. If there are 1,000,000 outstanding shares, but call 20,000 open options for a ticker, there is clearly too many “synthetic” shares on the market, because if all those were exercised, there would be more shares on the market than were offered by the original company. Fines need to go up.

To keep it simple, shorting rules and regulations need to be updated and brought up to speed. Reporting should be done faster and more efficiently.

As a retail investor I would like to say I’m disgusted at my findings along with the “apes”. Now the media is covering the issues with naked shorts, dark pools, price manipulation, etc. What a time time to be alive. I as many other expect the right thing to be done and allow a free and fair market for EVERYONE. Make everyone accountable for whatever rules they broke. If the roles were reversed, they would be writing you these comments.

Short reporting should really be transparent

1. More visibility need in to short sellers 2. Punishment for breaking/violating rules need to be more severe.

Fines smaller than the profits made by violators are called bribes. All regulatory bodies that impose minor fines are taking bribes. The fact that comments are being asked for when the public sentiment on naked short selling, FTDers, and obvious price manipulation is incredibly easy to find is just another slap in the face to retail traders.

There are five major suggestions I have: 1. All short interest data be updated daily; 2. No longer allowing the synthetic long loophole to short; 3. No longer allowing shorting in dark pools so the activity can be fully traceable; 4. If a firm FTD, for any reason, they are prohibited from shorting until they cover; and 5. Using blockchain to track every short order executed to ensure a complete and accurate ledger of short interest and who has shorted.

Reporting partial short interests does nothing but mask the trickery of hedgies. A good rule change for FINRA would be to report from ALL exchanges both lit and unlit. Get rid of T + 2. Provide exact real time interest charges. Hopefully the SEC would ban naked short covering with options or ban naked shorts entirely. Basically level the playing field between Wall Street and retailers. If we can’t do it or have the available info then no one should.

I am a new investor dating to Feb 2021. With limited experience and a lot of reading, I opened a cash account so I could open a ROTH IRA. With my limited time and knowledge, it didn’t take long for me, a somewhat technically experienced person that something wasn’t square on the other side of my trade. I do not comment here as to fake a persona of a trader but just the opposite… and if I can see something isn’t fair or right… imagine what is happening to those that have years of knowledge and trading experience

The only way to have a trust worthy financial market is through transparency and having a better understanding of what short positions exist and the data involved with them only seems the logical answer. Currently it’s a portion of the market that seems shrouded in mystery. That doesn’t make me want to invest; if anything it has made me shy away.