shorting

I thought I would plagiarise Billy Gates post #2666621

This realtes to posting previusly re CVI's quick cash access account which has been very good but here is the downside. Thought it relevant to us holders to gain a better understanding

"if you see buying in a stock..its an open market. if someone borrows a lot of stock and can sell it at any price [no up tick rule] then its not an open market. If you own the stock and all you see is endless down pressure on a stock..are you informed? How do you know if its natural selling?
A number of years back, you could actually tell if someone was shorting a stock because it had a code next to the sell order, you have no idea now. If i want to take a normal short position, i can put stock on the offer above the last sale price and wait for the market to take me out [if they choose too]. this is not the case with naked shorting, i can melt the stock in a bad market and force people to think something is wrong and blow up margin loan books.[spread a rumor for spice] How is it possible for the average trader to be informed in this case? How can this be an open market? If it was an open market, then allow me the chance to see someone is shorting the stock. we can all see when someone is buying. people carry on about endless looses for a shorter..well hello..in this market you can have downside from people destroying a stock and blowing up its debt obligations linked to its loan book. if someone shorts thinking they can loose multiple times their money..then why go short? The real owner of the stock has no intention of selling the stock and i bet they dont even know just how their stock is being sold. Its like lending your car to a drunk and telling them to drive carefully. The owner of the stock needs to wake up as well and not loan it out in times like this imo.ANyone with enough time in the game will tell you we have a regulatory issue with this.the asx cant profit from removing old workable rules and then turning a blind eye to the outcome because you make money from every trade. i do not short much at all, but its very easy for me to use my balance sheet to smash a stock big time without you knowing whats going on. This is even easier on a day trade situation. "

Thanks to Billy Gates