Short Futures Tix need to be marked as such?

Although futures can be shorted on a downtick, do the orders have to be marked as "Sell Short"?

If so, is there any special treatment of this order (not filled in order or something like that) or is it just so that the exchange can keep track of Open Interest and Short Interest?

Thanks.

 

No. Just buy and sell. There is no such thing as a short sale in futures. A futures contract is not a thing that you own like a share of stock. Hence you need not borrow it from your broker before you sell one.

 

That's what i thought, but i was beginning to look at the IB futures order ticket and there were bullet holes to be filled in for "buy, sell, sell short" as well as "open/close"

Does anybody that uses IB know if these bullet holes need to be filled in or do they not exist once i fund my account?

Thanks.

 

I've never used sshort. But I see it in my account. Don't know why it would be used in futures.

 

There is no short interest in futures and the rules are the same whether you go long or short. The Open/Close might apply to initiating or closing out a position.

 

Did U even ask IB before opening the account?

 

No, i didn't ask IB before opening the account because i didn't view their order ticket before opening the account.

Now that my account is "approved", i've started exploring a bit and came upon this question. I'm making sure i like the interface before i fund the account (which i plan on doing next week)

 

ignore them, just buy and sell. Institutional accounts may want to flag orders for various reasons.