Short status: unavailable (red)

What's the rationale behind this? Apparently locates are not even sought. Is there a regulatory limit or is this IB's risk management at work?

 

I have no idea.
Saw it on SPRT.

Locates habe tried up on this one, other brokers charging 1$+ per share on locates.

You can still short (D)ITM calls

 

Was also looking at SPRT, it happens regularly on high vol biotechs. I'm still curious what the reasoning is, I'm fine with whatever fees there are but outright disabling shorting is bothersome.

 

I'm also getting this... can you spell this out for me?

1. What does this it mean?
2. How can the IB fee rate be 163.41%?
3. Schwab's borrow rate is much better... maybe sign up for their brokerage services? I'm seeing 136.75%

 

The daily interest is 163%, nothing impossible about this. Borrow rate is irrelevant when the status is red and no shorting can be done.

 

- Short Sell 100 SPRT@31.25
- total price $3125.
- Short interest: 163% of $3125 is $5093.75
- Annualized at 360 days is $14.15/day.

Correct?

 

Apex short rate today in SPRT is 201% but unavailable when I tried to locate later in the day.

 

First things first...IB had no inventory of SRPT to lend out to short, this normally results in the faded green no shorts available...Thats issue number 1.

Issue number 2 is that IB doesn't do locates for everyone. You need to have a portfolio margin account.

Issue number 3 is that at times IB flat out bans shorting on certain crazy stocks (ie. the red not shortable status)...this is done to "protect" customers

 

SRPT is ETB today at Lightspeed.

 

SPRT (support.com), not SRPT (sarepta). Yeah, it looks like it was a straight up ban on shorting to "protect" us, never mind that some of us can protect ourselves and these protections are just costing money.