As of July 6, 2007, the short sale "tick test" has been eliminated for all NYSE securities. The SEC has granted relief to allow a transitional period of 90 days from July 6 for firms to do the necessary systems work to replace the "short exempt" marking with "short." The SEC also granted relief to all SRO s to be able to accept orders marked "short exempt" for the same period.
SEC REG SHO Relief Response Letter to SIFMA
SEC REG SHO Relief Response Letter to AMEX