a question on trading "sell short"

always

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A couple of days ago, I sent a "sell short" order, and got returned a message like "This symbol cannot be traded". I was sure this symbol was not halted. Anybody knows what happened?
 
well just eyeballing it it could just been that your broker dint have none to borrow.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I am with a relatively small broker. Will it be easier to borrow a stock at a bigger broker?
 
well yeah, mostly I rekon (not actually equities trader). As well, next time you want to short something, if you know about it pre market you can try and tell your broker asap. i mean if they only have so many shares to go around, early bird gets worm and erything.

good luck next time mate :)
 
Thank you DashRiprock for the invaluable suggestions. A quick follow-up: Can I do short pre-market in addition to doing it after open?
 
no i dont think so but if your broker only has acess to XX many thousand shares available to borrow (I.e. lend to you for a short position), get your name early on the list yeh? they are easy to borrow until theres none left. Best speak to your broker specifically about how to do it.
 
Yup DashRipRock is correct. It depends on whether the share is available to sell short by the broker.

Smaller brokers have this problem for equity trading.

I have heard good things about InteractiveBrokers. They usually do seem to have the shares available for shorting for most equities out there.

Their minimum is $10k USD I believe for personal accounts.
 
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