short sales

Existing Home Sales Decline by -1.7% for September 2012

NAR reported their September 2012 Existing Home Sales. Existing home sales decreased -1.7% from last month and inventories are down to a now tight 5.9 months of supply. Existing homes sales have increased 11.0% from a year ago. Volume was 4.75 million, annualized against August's revised up, from 4.82 to 4.83 million, annualized existing home sales.

SEC may ban short sales for February - ominous sign

A most interesting story on the SEC banning short sales for February.

Concern that short-sellers accelerate stock declines may prompt the Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt a rule next month aimed at curbing bearish bets when equities are plunging.

The regulation would require the trades be executed above the best existing bid in the market when shares fall 10 percent in a day, said Brian Hyndman, the senior vice president in transaction services at Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. In a short sale, an investor borrows an asset and sells it, hoping to profit from a decrease by repurchasing it later at a lower price.