Shaking in their shorts

Shaking in their shortsA handful of heavily shorted small cap biotechs got a bounce last week after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced new actions intended to eliminate "naked" short selling - the abusive practice of shorting of shares without borrowing them, and then failing to deliver them to the buyer within three business days after the settlement date. SEC also said it is considering requiring public disclosure of short positions.

Changes that were announced Wednesday and went into effect Thursday include penalties for failing to deliver securities within three days of the initial transaction, elimination of the exception from the three-day delivery requirement for options market makers, and a rule making it clear that deception about the intention or ability to deliver securities is a violation of the law...