DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE A PROBLEM TRYING TO SHORT THE ETF'S ON ISLAND ? I THOUGHT THEY COULD BE SHORTED ONA UP OR DOWN TICK ? ANYONE GETTING AROUND THIS PROBLEM ?
Actually, I've been using Island exclusively to route all my QQQ trades (average about 6-8 round-trips a day) and have had absolutely no problems shorting at any time. Most of the time I offer the stock 1 cent lower than the inside ask and my orders are accepted 100% of the time. Hope this helps. Rafael P.S. If it makes any difference, I use IB for order-entry.
Rafael, You've got me curious. If the market is moving down (something very common of late) I'm surprised offering .01 below the inside ask is getting filled 100% of the time. Now maybe you didn't mean "filled" when you said "accepted". And if you didn't, then were you strictly talking about being posted on ISLD? But if you did mean filled, I have a hard time believing your 100% figure. I could understand it a bit more if you offered the stock .01 lower than the inside bid, but not the inside ask if it's moving down.
Magna, You are absolutely correct in that offering a stock .01 below the inside ask will not get you filled a lot of the time. That's precisely why I used the word "accepted" and not "filled" to indicate my order always being posted on Island. By saying that my order is always posted on Island I was answering the original question in that I have no problem offering QQQ for short sale regardless of whether it is currently on an uptick or downtick.<BR> As for the rest of your observation, I completely agree with it and in the situations when the stock is moving down I will definitely offer it below the inside bid if I want to make sure that I initiate my short position. Sorry for the confusion. Hope this helps. Rafael
I've never had a problem selling the qqq short on island one thing to consider(i don't know if this applies to retail accts) because of the uptik exemption, there is no need to actually hit your "sell short" button...just sell.....so just hit the bids
I never have any problems initiating a short on the Q's through Island. I place a limit order 1 cent below the bid and, more often than not, get the bid. I always get a fill. Traderjimbo, if you could let us know how you are initiating the short, what platform etc...we might be able to offer suggestions.