Mr. Chairman, thank you for calling this hearing.
I may disagree with many testifying today, but I feel very strongly that trading halts can calm panics in the markets.
Twenty 20 years we had trading halts -- they were mechanical -- markets closed because they couldn't handle the volume. Today, the New Stock Exchange can handle three billion trades.
Today, you've got too many young people trading other people's money in large volumes. They need time to think. They can get fired for big mistakes, not small ones -- so they are inclined to sell it now.
Another point, information can be in Gumshoe, North Carolina as soon as it hits Wall Street.
All of this can make these markets extremely volatile
I simply do not agree with those that say we don't need any market interference.
Things can happen so fast that they sellers will sell before the bargain hunters have time to get it.
I am opposed to moving these limits beyond flve and ten percent.
I am reassured to read that the NY Stock Exchange states in its testimony that "circuit breakers provide important investor protections." But I think the changes they are proposing may be too high.
And one final point to remember. America's retirement funds are invested in the market to a greater degree than ever before. In 1970, pension funds owned 10% of the market, today its 22%. A lot of people have a lot more at stake in this market.
Again, Mr. Chairman, thank you calling the hearing, I look forward to the
testimony.
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