Whats happening to Barclays shares then?

[trackdemon]

Down 20% in last hour

[matsmith]

the price doesnt surprise me at all

the speed does

its probably attributable to fear over govt bailouts

[Ungarsee]

John Varley's put it down to the FSA lifting the ban on shorting and all the negative press this week over job losses. Either way 98p a share is a little worrying

[murray]

Barlcays posted a statement earlier stating profits will be significantly more than the 5.3 billion estimates. Should push the price back up.

Jim

[Mello]

Ungarsee said:

John Varley's put it down to the FSA lifting the ban on shorting and all the negative press this week over job losses. Either way 98p a share is a little worrying

Seems 'king ridiculous to me that this is allowed. I don't work in directly-related finance, but short selling is damaging the economy, isn't it? Barclays is particularly badly hit, but others prices have dropped significantly in today's final hour too.

Can somebody who really understands this explain (and justify?)?