Dave wrote:
On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 09:29:18 GMT, "Dennis Pogson"
said:

Our government seems powerless to find out who starts these rumours, which o
nly work in today's jittery market conditions.

Bank robbers? Sure they are, but who can prove it? You would think some
honest dealers would come clean and shop these guys by exmamining the deals
they make, but it's a closed market. Nobody tells.

I find that hard to believe. What the regulators do is first examine who's
doing the shorting. (There are records of the trades, no? The regulators can
look at those records, no?) A pattern quickly develops. Then they look for
somebody in the shorting entity that has other likely regulatory problems,
and come down on him like a barrel of lead. Then offer leniency if he'll
spill what he knows. Generally works.


It is being investigated, see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7305039.stm

Cheers
Marty