Before 3:45 pm. Exchange mandated short sale restriction. The stock was TRN and I put in an MOC sell order. TRN i down 14% today. Tough luck.
Thank you for the links. However, they do not seem to address the issue of whether short sale restrictions apply to the closing auction. Thank you anyway.
IB answer: TRN had to end on an uptick in order for my MOC short sale order to fill. Into the close TRN traded at 33.35, then numerous times at 33.36 until the close and the auction was 33.36. Since this is not an uptick, my MOC short sale order was not filled.
However, this does not seem to fit the definition of the uptick rule from wiki: "The uptick rule is a trading restriction that states that short selling a stock is only allowed on an uptick. For the rule to be satisfied, the short must be either at a price above the last traded price of the security, or at the last traded price when the most recent movement between traded prices was upward (i.e. the security has traded below the last-traded price more recently than above that price)." ... since the most recent movement between traded prices was indeed up from 33.35 to 33.36.
Here is the answer from NYSE : "The NYSE indicated that because there was a short sale restriction, your order became a Limit-On-Close with a price of 33.36. In this case, regular sell LOC @ 33.36 orders (as opposed to short sell LOC) are ahead of yours. The order did not execute because there was not enough liquidity to fill all LOC orders at 33.36. In other words, not enough On Close buyers at that price to fill the sellers." Anyone well-versed in the intricate rules of NYSE closing auctions who can tell if this is according to protocol? Thank you.
Aren't you taking a gamble with this kind of order anyway because the outcome is uncertain and there is a real possibility it won't be filled?
I did not realize there was a short sale restriction in effect on the stock in the heat of the battle.