Does shorting stocks depend on the broker? I understand stocks aren't always automatically available for shorting, that a broker has to check to make sure they can be shorted before executing the trade. Well, does that mean some brokers can short a stock an other brokers can not? I tried to short EWH on questrade and the trade was rejected and then I went to IB and placed the same trade and it went through OK, so is shorting unique to the broker, any comments appreciated
Yes the broker has to have shorts available. Your friend using IB may be able to short a stock that is not available with TradeStation. This is one of the many frustrations that drove me to just trade futures. Including no $25,000 requirements and tons more. For example you can always short the YM or ES. I think there is already a huge thread on that. CajunSniper / Puretick.com Administrator-Trader