Stock SKF, SEF, RFN Halted Earlier on Short Selling Ban.

Barrons.com is reporting:

September 19, 2008, 11:15 am
Short Sale ETFs Halted As Some Plunge on Ban

Following the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission announcement that it will suspend for 10 days short-selling of some financials stocks, some short-sale exchange traded funds have been halted on the exchanges following huge drops. As one astute reader pointed out, UltraShort Financials ProShares (SKF), the Short Financials Proshare (SEF), and the Rydex Inverse Select Sector ETF Trust (RFN), all appear to have been halted, according to Briefing.com. And that’s following gigantic drops in all three, with the SKF down 19.5% at 9:30 this morning, the SEF down a whopping 78%, and the RFN down 21%.

Update: All three ETFs have resumed trading, and all three are down sharply: SKF, off 16.5%, SEF off 12.8%, RFN off 22.4%.

It is about time someone stepped in to stop this. I have always thought that short selling was manipulation of the market.