Bye bye "mark to market" rule? That jerkoff Cox at the SEC finally saw the light. Ace linked to a great article about all this, but the article leaves out the most important reason to get rid of mark to market. Mark to market automatically means "mark to the close of the day." This is a ridiculous valuation as anyone who has ever traded knows. The close is when a cowboy or three can slam a market without fear of a ton of others taking the other side. If you want a higher valuation for a day just go long several thousand contracts. Lower valuation, just short or sell. Many think that this repeal alone will loosen the credit market. As of this posting, mark to market is softened for any security for which there is no market or a very thin market. Arguments for mark to market are that this prevents companies from misstating the value of assets (Enron, LTCM)----in other words, "It's worth whatever I say it's worth" ain't marked to market, it's marked to fantasy. Here's a link. Here's a much better explanation but it's very long. The current system will not be repealed for securities because marking to market is transparent, you always know precise valuation at a precise time, and it stops cold the "fantasy valuations."