1. Short Selling under what conditions might investors consider short selling a specific stock?
2. SEC Structure and Role Briefly describe the structure and role of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
3. Bid–Ask Spread of Penny Stocks Your friend just told you about a penny stock he purchased, which increased in price from $0.10 to $0.50 per share. You start investigating penny stocks and, after conducting a large amount of research, you find a stock with a quoted price of $0.05. Upon further investigation, you notice that the ask price for the stock is $0.08 and that the bid price is $0.01. Discuss the possible reasons for this wide bid–ask spread.
4. Ban on Short Selling Why did the SEC impose a temporary ban on short sales of specific stocks in 2008? Do you think a ban on short selling is effective?