H&R Block, Inc. (HRB)

[analogdog]

NYSE adds nine stocks to short-ban list
Wed Sep 24, 2008 6:03pm EDT

NEW YORK, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The New York Stock Exchange added 9 more companies on Wednesday to the list of financial institutions that are not permitted to be shorted, ahead of Thursday's market open.

NYSE added 13 firms ahead of Wednesday's market, including International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and H&R Block Inc (HRB.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz). In the last two days, Nasdaq Stock Market added three stocks and dropped two from its list.

The list was started by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an attempt to crack down on short-selling and calm the turmoil in global markets, which led to wild price swings in the stocks of major financial firms.

Over the weekend, the SEC decided to let exchanges add to the list. There are now well over 900 companies covered by the ban.

Short-sellers borrow shares they consider overvalued and sell them. If the price drops, they repurchase the shares, return them and pocket the difference. (Reporting by Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Andre Grenon)