xcr,
I'm obviously not Steve, and if he stops by he can give you his expert view, but it seems clear to me the answer is NO. You cannot sell short at the bid unless there is an uptick. The T&S record clearly shows that there was none. I don't know where you sent you order, or what execution paths were available, but as a limit order it could not have been sent until the bid dropped below your limit (no locking or crossing rule) except as a client only order to an ECN (in the book but not sent to Nasdaq). Since you could not sell to the bid, your order could only show as the ask at 116 1/2. Here are the market changes covering your window of opportunity
9:32:00 116 1/2 x 116 9/16 1 x 313
9:32:01 116 1/4 x 116 9/16 10 x 313
9:32:03 116 1/4 x 116 1/2 10 x 1
9:32:03 116 1/4 x 116 1/2 10 x 10
9:32:03 116 1/4 x 116 1/2 1 x 10
9:32:03 116 1/4 x 116 5/16 1 x 20
That's it. The 116 1/2 was best offer for less than a second. Theoretically, someone could have bought from one of those 1/2 offers, but not likely while the stock was tanking. And, if your broker posted the 116 1/2 ask for you on an ECN, it was best ask for only a fraction of a second. All the prints around that time are out of synch with quotes, the typical morning problem, up around 117. A couple at 116 1/2 start showing 20 seconds later, almost surely sells to the bid. Two minutes later, the prints range from about 115 1/2 to 116 3/4. It's totally impossible to tell if any of them were buys from the ask, but very unlikely.
These situations are what the rule is for. No shorting a dumper.
Dan |
