Just to clarify, i am talking about naked shorting (common in the US), below from The Big Picture (Barry Ritholtz). You can still take a negative position in most papers using derivatives.The temporary ban is on short selling to help the markets heal somewhat (damage from aggressive short selling esp. naked short selling financials). Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheBigPicture/~3/PS4hr_YMAeA/short-selling-b.html

"Earlier today, we looked at an October 18, 1930, NYT editorial on on Short Selling. As we now see via Google News, bad ideas are contagious:

• Germany restricts short selling of financials • Netherlands bans short-selling • Taiwan limits short-selling • Australian Regulator Extends Ban to 'Covered' Short Selling • Dutch ban 'naked' short selling for 3 months • Irish Stock Exchange moves to block short-selling • Dubai condemns short-selling of shares

And in related news: • Short-selling set to debut in Egypt as the West moves to curb it • CBOE Head Denounces SEC's Emergency Short-Selling Ban • Swedish not considering shorting ban