An IB bulletin "NOTICE OF IMMINENT BUY-IN" started to flash on my TWS window at 15:43 EDT. It told me that I need to buy-in my short position before 14:45 deadline, which is one hour BEFORE 15:43, when they gave me this notice. What a joke! When I saw this notice, I had no choice but let IB buy-in the position at whatever price at whatever time. I hadn't received any other notice prior to this one at all. What was going on with this, IB? ================================ Sep 25, 2008 15:43 EDT NOTICE OF IMMINENT BUY-IN OF SHORT POSITION(S) IN U.S. STOCK The recent SEC's Emergency Order of 2008-09-18 requires that stock sales transactions meet statutory delivery obligations on the designated settlement date, generally three business days after trade date. The new regulation requires a repurchase of securities that are not delivered on the standard settlement date. This contrasts with previous practice wherein a trade could "fail" for several days after the target settlement date, permitting brokers greater latitude to find lenders for the stock to facilitate delivery. > >Due to the unprecedented change in market practice, the stock borrow market availability for many stocks appears to be reduced. We have determined that your short positions in the following stocks cannot be covered by borrows and will accordingly fail the delivery obligations. To comply with the new regulations, IB will repurchase ("buy-in") the following positions for your account Uxxxxx on your behalf starting any time after 14:45 (2:45 p.m.) EST. You may choose to repurchase the positions yourself at any time prior to this deadline, in which case IB initiated repurchases will be adjusted accordingly. Trades after 14:45 will not be considered and may result in purchases generated by IB and by yourself. The buy-in trades will be posted to your account as soon as possible, but may occur after the market close at 16:00 EST. > >The following is the list of stocks that will be "bought-in" for short positions still existing at 14:45 and resulting from short sale activity on or before 2008-09-19: xxx xxxxxx =================================