To: horsegirl48 who wrote (19951 ) 9/25/2001 2:01:04 PM From: TechTrader42 Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 52237 **OT** Maybe the House Financial Services Committee will ask the SEC to consider halting trading completely -- buying and short selling -- to prevent "putting further pressure on already fragile markets." After all, that Congressman mentioned "short selling or other similar activities." Any trading at all might be construed to be a similar activity. Like John LaFalce (D-NY), I'm concerned that "negative macroeconomic forces and speculation in stocks" may be "adding to the downward cycle we are seeing in the markets" and in the economy. Clearly, investors have been dumping stocks "amid worries about the cost of possible U.S. military retaliation, massive layoff announcements and signs the economy may slide into a recession." I'm going to ask the SEC to consider a halt in all trading. And while they're at it, what about movies, another similar activity (making movies is an investment for producers, after all)? Why are movie producers permitted to dedicate needed resources to entertainment in these dire times? And music? What about banning music? Shouldn't the SEC ban music? And books? And dancing? What could be more similar to short selling now than dancing? That sure is a similar activity that should be stopped. The Taliban have outlawed pet parakeets, I've read, too (honestly). What about pet parakeets? Shouldn't the SEC ban, or at least restrict, pet parakeets? Maybe owning a pet parakeet isn't a similar activity, but one reason to ban them might be national security, because they repeat things they hear. I'm sure they probably erode consumer confidence in some way, too. Everything else does. How can consumers find time to spend when they're busy looking after pet parakeets? I don't mean to turn this thread into an anti-parakeet forum, but it's an issue that needs to be addressed. Why can't we ban pet parakeets? After all, it's a free country.