After reading the thread so far, I thought of something that sounds illegal (although I haven't taken the series 7). In a time when the stock ISN'T freefalling but simply ticking down slowly, is it possible to do this: 1) load a market short sell of 600 shares into your order entry window. 2) send in a 100 share buy order to create an uptick 3) once the quote shows an uptick, press the button to sell short 4) wash the first 100 shares, then supposedly get filled short the other 500 at market Would that work or once the first 100 shares is washed and the price ticks down, you won't get the rest of your order filled even if it's at market. DNAJ65000
He just liked my idea but needed to post it himself with 10 times as many words! Whatever makes you feel important.
Well, on OTC stocks, this is very likely, as there is no central order book, so the stock will actually trade at different prices all at the same time (thereby generating various upticks). On NYSE this is much less likely, particularly if the stock is getting hit hard. If you have options up and handy, sell deep in the money calls, and you will get a delta very similar to that of being short the stock. Example, your stock ABC is trading at $35.50, and starts tanking. You enter your order to SHORT 10000 shares at $35.45, but doubt you'll get it. So you look at your front month June options, and see that the $10 call is quoted $25.40 / $25.55. So you then sell the $10 call on the bid of $25.40. You can then either buy back the calls when the stock drops as you were expectingl, or buy the stock. If you buy the stock, you can unwind the long stock / short ITM calls when things are quieter, or buy the corresponding puts to complete the hedge (though this method will probably be somewhat margin intensive for you).
I used to trade with IB and enjoyed flash fills thru TMBR. No waiting to find out etc. Now for size reasons, it is less expensive commission-wise to pull the trigger thru Ameritrade who uses Trimark. I follow my orders on the T/S and notice how long it takes to cancel, how long it takes to get confirmations, and how the price I get on fills does not reflect the bulk of the volume that I see going off. For peace of mind, it is becoming enticing to accept the difference in commish for flash fills. You know... it isn't the dollars that bugs me, it is the principle that I know they are not giving me the best fill. Not that I don't remember griping about the same with TMBR, but it seems more prevalent with NITE, or Trimark.
Yes do just that and do not ever pull your order, just keep sizing up Buy bullets, don't ever send regular market shorts unless you want to hold for long term.