RE:Let's differentiate between Shorting and Naked Shorting. Teheran, I agree with the majority of your post.As some who was part of an advocacy group in the US who fought this battle along with 40k others in CMKX. I am not entirely sure it is banned for every equity in the US. I need to look at that again.
I left trading altogether after the 2008 crash because of naked shorting but I seem to remember that the SEC only prevented (protected) certain companies from the practice.
I became disillusioned with trading because the regulatory agencies proved to me they were not on the side of the retail investor.
Again, there may have been regulation passed that I was not aware of with regards to naked shorting.
Remember, every financial transaction goes through the Depository Trust Corporation. Largest institution in the world in monetary transactions.. It is global.. Stocks, Payroll, banking, you name it. It is a division of the federal reserve.. They were well aware of the practice of naked shorting because the transactions had to go through them.
So I will only disagree with you in this sense.. When GameStop is "shorted" at 120-140% of the float... Say hello to "Naked Shorting"
That my friend, is text book and Checkmate and I love it.
It is called FTD (Failure to Deliver) A nice way of saying counterfeiting.
The SEC was ok with it until they decided brilliant terrorists got in on the game to make easy money to support operations. Then and only then did it become a problem.