UltraShorts and the Fall of the Uptick Rule

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I had mentioned in one of my early articles on levered short-side ETFs that I thought it would be tough to reinstate the uptick rule with these products outstanding. I never really thought much more about it beyond that one fleeting sentence. Revisiting the thought now, though, I wonder if the massive proliferation of these vehicles would have ever been possible had the uptick rule not been eliminated to begin with. (Don't miss "Uptick Rule: Meaningful or Meaningless?")

This week [Feb. 23-27] on "Mad Money," Jim Cramer showed a clip of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's Humphrey-Hawkins testimony. Bernanke said that, if asked, he would advise SEC Chair Mary Schapiro that there may be merit to the concept of bringing back the uptick rule.

While the clip aired, a line flashed across the screen stating that the uptick rule was eliminated in 2007. That got me thinking a little bit about the timing -- I frankly couldn't believe the uptick rule had only been gone for less than two years. Please note, I am not a conspiracy theorist at all, but I was interested in reconstructing the time frame around the growth in levered and short-side ETFs and the elimination if the uptick rule. ...