>>>1. How often does Waterhouse have "no shares to short?"<<<
Availability is fairly good, but could be better. I believe it's better than Schwab. I was able to borrow WDRY with no problem, got rejected for YHOO (not a bad thing after all) before the split, can't get PNDA, and couldn't find ZONA.
>>>2. How often does Waterhouse declare a stock not marginable (and therefore not short-able)?<<<
I believe they work straight from the Fed list.
>>>3. How is the Quicken98 support working out? (I would consider Datek, but they don't support Q98 yet.)<<<
I don't have Quicken98 so couldn't comment.
>>>4. Posters on the Waterhouse thread have noted that customers must call Waterhouse when covering a short sale with a "buy" order. Can this also be done by e-mail? (Their Web Broker system can't handle covers automatically, apparently, though they claim to be working on this.<<<
I always buy and "box" the short. It's just a short phone call to get it journaled over to the type 5 account, but I must adit it's frustrating.
>>>5. Any specific complaints or compliments about Waterhouse and short sales?<<<
My complaint is that every single short sell must fall through to a broker for approval. This includes cancels, believe it or not. Their system is absolutely no good for any kind of quick sells, as it can take up to 5 minutes to get that "approval". If you're thinking of daytrading these shorts, Waterhouse is not the place for you. I really am not sure why these things could not be computerized, and the fact that they won't cancel a short sell order without a broker's approval borders on the ridiculous.
My opinion is that Waterhouse is excellent for long positions (execution speed is pristine) but I stick with Datek for shorting. All of these discount houses have their own peculiarities and advantages, and I think one needs more than one account using a broker that is good at the particular strategy they are implementing. I love Waterhouse for executing my buy orders into panic sells at 9:30 am (when Datek is usually slow as molasses), but dislike their anal retentive nature when it comes to shorting (Datek would let you short your granny, if you were so inclined, and if she were listed on one of the 3 major exchanges). It's my opinion that it's not possible to use only one house effectively.
Barb |
