In regards to the proposed rule S7-32-10 “Prohibition Against Fraud, Manipulation, or Deception in Connection with Security-Based Swaps” I would like to give my comment as a individual investor.
The United States cannot have a free and fair market unless all market data is transparent and available to the public. This includes the swap data in question, and also includes so-called “dark pool” transactions, it includes paywalled data which should not be paywalled it should be free for everyone. Any data that only a handful of professional investors would know but not everyone else provides them an unfair advantage in what is supposed to be a free and fair market.
How can the young people of our nation build wealth for themselves when they buy stock in companies which are being massively short sold in secret by hedge funds? Where an individual investor sees a promising startup and is eager to take part in the formation of a new business, many Wall Street professionals only see a carcass to be ripped apart and chewed on like a pack of wolves. This isn’t just a difference of mindset, or skill, or work culture. It’s asymmetric data. An individual investor would never invest in a company which is subject to a deliberate and concerted attack by major Wall Street investment firms.
The only way that individual investors can take part in the market in a positive and meaningful way is for all market data to be available to everyone. This data needs to be free and easy to access. It should not be held in secret, obfuscated, or locked behind paywalls. Only then can we educate ourselves, learn how the market works, and invest in successful companies which have a bright future ahead of them.
Isn’t this supposed to be the American Dream? To take part in a Capitalist society by investing in small companies which reward you with some of their wealth and success when they finally make it big? I was told so many times when I was a child that I could do anything I wanted to do, if only I put my mind to it. But in my short lifetime I have seen multiple economic crashes - 2000, 2008, the 2022 COVID shutdown, and now possibly an even worse crash in on the horizon. I don’t see small companies becoming successful I see small companies being ripped apart by predatory billionaires and big businesses. I see bankruptcy after bankruptcy and stores closing every year because our economy has become so difficult to survive in. Years ago I never really thought about why a stock would plummet but now I know about naked short selling, dark pools, and hidden market data. I realize now that none of it was random. Every business I’ve seen shuttered was killed off deliberately. It might as well have been an assassination.
Who benefits? Who is getting rich by short selling American businesses into the ground? I suspect we could find out, if we had access to all the data. What is being hidden in those swaps?
Some day the truth will come to light. I hope that day is soon. XXX
