<rant> 

Previously, I talked about my severe dislike of the short ban.  I don't think shorting is a good idea for me personally, but it's a function of the market.  Is it possible to measure success when it comes to the effectiveness of this plan?  The market is a measly 300 points away from the intra day low which was set right before they announced the short ban.  We're one weak session away from where we were before the ban was enacted.  So I would ask anyone who thought this was a good idea if they still think this a good idea.  We still had our weekly bank failure, the poorly run companies are still poorly run and still going down in value.  Only now no one can hedge themselves (assuming options are too complicated for most to fool with).

So I submit my opinion on the matter.  This did not help and the risk taken far outweighed the virtually non-existent reward.  Confidence was severely shaken in the concept of a free market and all for nothing.  I always get a kick on people blaming the shorts for making markets go down and I think it's a poor excuse to help a bull sleep ... and now we get to see first hand that it is truly bunk.

What's next from our clueless leaders? 

</rant>