Tracking the Numbers

Street Sleuth

'Not MY Stock': The Latest Way To Fight Shorts

Updated Aug. 2, 2006 12:01 a.m. ET

Some executives are reaching for an odd tactic in an expanding battle against short sellers, who profit when share prices fall.

The executives -- at smaller companies that often don't trade on big exchanges -- are pushing shareholders to lock away their physical stock certificates so the short sellers can't get their hands on the shares.

Stock trading rarely involves the actual exchange of physical stock certificates anymore,...

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