Excellent link, giggallo. That thread has a number of posts with comparisons of the size of the short lists from multiple firms. This last such post was from 3/15/07 with the following short list sizes: RML (Penson) Found 7957 of 10865 symbols (73%) IB Found 9307 of 10865 symbols (85%) SLK (Goldman) Found 9482 of 10865 symbols (87%) SWIFT Found 9864 of 10865 symbols (90%) ML (Merrill) Found 9790 of 10865 symbols (90%) GNDT (Genesis) Found 9894 of 10865 symbols (91%) Currently, it appears that at least RML and Genesis have smaller short lists than they did a year ago, although that might be true for all of the firms.
According to their most recent NASD filings, they use Penson exclusively for their clearing, so I guess that number is a good representation of the short list that Penson has to offer. Again, this is a Friday list and it seems rather small, like Genesis, so do lists shrink going into the weekend?
Assent is the best platform but has a horrible short list. Pension is probably among the best. when i used to trade at schwab cyber trader(they used pension),when yoiu typed in the symbol on your platform,it would say how many shares were available to short..unlike ASSENT,cyber trader has no shorting the bid or downtick..thats the trade off.
penson is average / average+ on $10+ stocks. since they (generally) don't allow shorting of under $5 stocks, there's no comparison for them on the cheapies.
Eric- I found Goldman's short list to be extensive. In fact there was never a single stock that I wanted to short that I could not short through them, even very hard to barrow issues...however, I often had to call to get it which was a pain in the ass and would probably be far from ideal for you in your situation as by the time they pick up the phone your trade may have come and gone. I think that they probably do have the best short list, or at least the best ability to get you stocks to short, but knowing your style of trading, as I said I'm pretty sure that having to call for it would be far from ideal for you. Hope that helps.
Sounds like a great software feature. Just curious, is there any charge for accessing these shares for shorting? Either way, having it down electronically is a plus over having to call in, IMO.
The only charge is NOT getting to know the stock loan guys/gals.... I have gotten some HTB stuff that they didn't approve via e-locate by calling. If only a portion of the size I wanted.