SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The Securities and Exchange Commission ban on short selling of financial stocks will be lifted just before midnight on Wednesday. That means investors can put new bearish bets on shares of financial-services companies starting Thursday. The SEC said earlier this week that the ban would expire three trading days after the $700 billion government bailout became law. President George Bush signed the legislation into law on Friday, after the House of Representatives voted for the plan earlier in the day.