Stocks rise on U.S politician promising change to short selling rule

U.S. stock markets accelerated gains after Reuters was first to report on March 10 that a leading Democrat in Congress expected the Securities and Exchange Commission to act on two important regulations — easing mark-to-market accounting and reimposing the uptick limit on short-selling. The remarks from Representative Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, were credited with boosting the market. Bloomberg only moved one headline from Frank, on the uptick rule, nearly five minutes later. Dow Jones trailed by more than 30 minutes with its version of the market-sensitive story. The uptick rule, adopted after the 1929 stock market crash, allowed short sales only when the last sale price was higher than the previous price. The SEC abolished the rule in 2007, after concluding that advances in trading strategies had rendered it ineffective.