Like I said with the other guy here it's just assumptions which is why I am hesitant about filing a complaint to SEC.GOV. But to make things clear, my accusation was they look at a block of orders coming from the same ticker. Not just my own. I just happen to be caught in the middle a lot due to my habit of trading fast moving stocks. Why do I think they're frontrunning at these times? Since it's the most volatile and opens up the most opportunity & profit to slip in orders without notice. And if someone complains they can always just say "It could because your trying to short a stock that is going down really fast with a ton of volume." That would explain why my orders were delayed almost everytime a stock was moving fast. But as I said it's all just speculation. It is true I got nothing on them, nothing solid except the ramblings from an angry customer. In fact, it could just be latency or some other technical issue. One thing is clear and we can all agree upon. They are in fact a shitty ass broker!
This is what I got from my broker. The order was accepted by the exchange at 14.08.40 and executed by the exchange at 14.09.02. These are not time stamps set by us, these are exchange time stamps. You tried to short a stock that was going straight down during the time frame of 2:08:40 and 2:09:02. Please read the link below regarding short executions. This order was processed exactly it was supposed to be processed and confirmed with time stamps from the exchanges. https://www.sec.gov/news/press/2010/2010-26.htm This is part of the article. This alternative uptick rule is designed to restrict short selling from further driving down the price of a stock that has dropped more than 10 percent in one day. It will enable long sellers to stand in the front of the line and sell their shares before any short sellers once the circuit breaker is triggered. Now everything would've made sense & all except one major detail. The stock didn't go down 10 percent in one day? It opened in the $2.20's and when my order was accepted by the exchange it was in the $3.40's. Up more than a dollar. So either my broker is desperately trying to cover his ass by bringing up irrelevant articles or there is something more to this uptick rule I am not aware of.
Can anyone clarify about this uptick rule? Honestly, this is the first time I have even heard of such a rule but if I am right and it doesn't apply here then my broker just unwittingly given me the time stamps I needed as proof in his own words.
What I got from the ticker is that the stock started to go down as of 14:08:37, which means if you want to sell and there are no upticks in between... you're basically waiting for that one uptick... So if the market drops from .53 to .40 and the first uptick is then.. that's when you get filled I think.
I think that the short sale rule got triggered due to the price action in the time period 10:30 ~ 11:30. The price reached a high of 4 USD and then dropped to 3.3 USD. This is a drop of more than 10%, triggering the short sale restriction. The uptick rule is then activated for the remainder of the day, plus the following trading day (November 2nd and 3rd). Does your trading platform not have a visible indication when this rule is active for a certain stock? I am using IB's TWS and it shows a clear red mark next to the stock's ticker symbol if it is subject to the uptick rule.
Ok I figured it out the rule is the price has to go down 10% from the previous close. So looking at the chart on nov 2nd it didn't actually trigger whereas on nov 1st it was down about 10% from the previous close so it did trigger and applied for the following day too. Hell yeah that part is quite confusing. Well that finally solves the big riddle. I could've sworn it happened in a long position but I can't be certain so lets just wrap it up. Call it a lesson learned.
I know this is an old thread, but just in case anyone decides to read this when going to open a TradeZero account, like I did a few months ago(this pops up high on Google search), I thought I might mention a few things. I don't mean to just rip into TradeZero like this probably seems, but there is a severe lack of warning of this broker out there for some strange reason. 1. Half the orders do not go through. As in Stop-Markets are frequently ignored, despite their 'promise' that the will always fill. Stop-Limits are ALWAYS ignored, without exception. What's the point in these things even being an option in the order form when they NEVER work, period? Range Orders are (in my experience) actually semi-reliable and so I use them mainly, despite the issues below. The only thing I've found is consistently successful are limit buys & limit sells that are not stop losses. However: You can't have both at the same time. Their platform will not let more than a single order for your position unless you use a range order. That means you CAN'T set your stop loss AND a take profit at the same time! It's one or the other, never both. 2. They advertise 'direct access broker' but in reality, this is not the truth. Ignoring the website and FAQ, their rep claims you need $5k for 'direct access' which also allows you to choose your route on the market. Amex, QUIK, ARCA, PAFC, EGEX, etc. 3. They sell all of your trade information. So any Market Stops that actually go through are advertised to market makers / HTF's. Further, their level 2 feed that you have to pay for is really limited and doesn't offer much depth at all. Further, limit orders do not often show up on the level 2 feed. There's simply a GAP where your own limit should be and I've been left horrified by said limit stop order being totally ignored many times now. 4. As they are located in the Bahamas, they are not regulated, despite being insured by a British Bank. I'll let the readers draw their own conclusions. But my own are obvious. 5. AND THIS: I thought I was going crazy at first, but clearly not after reading another review. A few limit orders have been executed at a different price all together - which means a LOT when attempting to make use of their 'no commission' 200+ share limit orders. No point attempting a short-term trade because your order average price limit order will be more than you set it to be half the time. Relating to point 4: unregulated. My Own Experience: A while ago, I opened a $2000 account with TradeZero with the intention of giving the platform broker a thorough test before transferring my actual trading funds in. In a particular incident I shall never forget, I shorted a certain rock. My position went well and I decided to let it continue downward for the rest of the day. I set a market COVER for the short position to lock in profit and I walked away for a few hours, faithfully believing as I had been told that market orders were guaranteed execution and even with slippage of a few cents, I would have ended the day on a green note. I came back four hours later to find the market cover had been completely ignored and I had to limit cover the order for a $1k loss. RBZ was the bull of the day and it skyrocketed something like 200% while I was afk. This has happened repeatedly with smaller positions, which prompted me to leave this advice for anyone who cared to read it. Half their orders do not work and while their customer service seems polite, they don't care to address the issues in the slightest. Good luck Simrak.