CJI, your comment below jogged my memory so I dug this up. The article states: "Australia is one of only two countries, the other is New Zealand, in the 30-member OECD that does not have an explicit government guarantee over depositors' funds with banks." Join discussion...

The ban on short-selling is like throwing the baby out with the bath water. For example, some entities short sell to hedge. But this ban prevents hedging. In the end, "Some traders said they were no longer betting on the intrinsic health of companies, but rather on what the government might do next." Join discussion...

We received a news from a CFD provider, stating that "ASIC has announced, with immediate effect, a total ban on Short Selling on ASX listed shares - see www.asic.gov.au. If you currently hold an open short position, you will NOT be forced to close this under the ASIC directive. All sales of long positions will be unaffected." This is the ASIC page put up on 21 Sept 2008 (Sunday). Join discussion...

There will be a lot of knee-jerk reactions by regulators to contain this epic financial crisis. This is one of them. The question is, what will be the long-term consequences? Ladies and gentlemen, we feel that history will look back at this week as the turning point. Exactly what it will turn to? We don't know. Join discussion...

Do you see the irony here? In China, there was no margin-lending and short-selling. Yet the stock market can fluctuate up to 9% in one day. Now, they are opening up the stock market for short-selling and margin lending. The Western stock markets, on the other hand, has short-selling, margin lending, CFDs, options. Yet, it is rare for the Western markets to fluctuate more than 9% in one day. And now, they have banned short-selling. Join discussion...

China has become a master at locking up global oil suppliers, ignoring the human rights, security and business issues that have often deterred their U.S. counterparts. In the long run, this could be a different-maker in the race for economic supremacy. Join discussion...

Is the money in your bank safe? This blog article has a horror story. But it is more relevant for the US readers. Is there a FDIC equivalent in Australia? Join discussion...

Read the last paragraph: "While the slowdown has yet to result in the large-scale redundancies announced by some US banks, several Australian banks have admitted that there will be some job cuts." Join discussion...

In Issue #816, Alexander Green illuminates investors on which bank stocks to consider and which ones to ignore. Join discussion...

Is this a good thing? Join discussion...