I wish people would stop making this out to be more than it is.
The financial markets are built on confidence and trust. Counter-party risk is very real.
What many people do not know is that mid-2007 they changed the criteria to short a stock. Previously, you could only short on an uptick. Now, that requirement is gone.
Using a combination of naked shorts and shorting on DOWN ticks you can quickly create a huge run on a stock. This spooks counter-parties, big time, especially in crisis of uncertainty and rumors.
Spooked counter-parties then stop dealing wi...
whatev, they banned NAKED shorting.