a question on trading "sell short"

[always]

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?

 

[DashRiprock]

what was it?

 

[always]

Mu

 

[DashRiprock]

well just eyeballing it it could just been that your broker dint have none to borrow.

 

[always]

Thanks for the suggestion. I am with a relatively small broker. Will it be easier to borrow a stock at a bigger broker?

 

[DashRiprock]

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

 

[always]

Thank you DashRiprock for the invaluable suggestions. A quick follow-up: Can I do short pre-market in addition to doing it after open?

 

[DashRiprock]

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.

 

[safvan]

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.