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Strategies & Market Trends : Roger's 1998 Short Picks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brooks Jackson who wrote (2994)	2/14/1998 12:17:00 PM
From: James Unterburger	Respond to of 18691

I am strictly nickel and dime and that may have something to do with it, but Waterhouse very often does not have shares to short. But every time I'm told it's because they are not available, not because they don't fit some "criteria". It's once a day you can check for share availability. For the ones I have been able to find to short, the service is fine. I have never had any called back. When covering, a simple call to your account manager will have them move the bought shares to cover the short position. True, the webbroker does not have this capability. In other areas, they get my vote though. They tracked down some shares I was due in a spinoff of a worthless company, whereas I heard of other brokers not doing that for their clients. They have an office right downtown, so I can get money out (or in) same day. There is no fee for transfer and ship either, making getting DRP programs started very easy ($12 commission). One thing, when placing a short sale order, they request that you not simply enter the order with webbroker, but first call to inquire about the availability of shares. They then reserve them for you for the day, and you go to webbroker to place the actual order. This is how you get $12 commission.

To: Brooks Jackson who wrote (2994)	2/14/1998 12:28:00 PM
From: Peter H. Hodge	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 18691

Brooks: it seems that one of your main criteria as to the selection of an online broker is support of Q98. Perhaps you should rethink that point. As I and others have pointed out, Datek seems to always have shares to loan. They also allow marginability on stocks near or slightly under $5.00 where other brokers do not. This allows shorting. One profitable short sale in an issue Waterhouse or others don't allow should be enough incentive to either do the bookkeeping yourself, or should provide the funds to hire an account to do it. JMHO, and FWIW....Pete

To: Brooks Jackson who wrote (2994)	2/14/1998 2:34:00 PM
From: Dante Sinferno	Respond to of 18691

<<Waterhouse users>> Brooks , I was incredibly unhappy with Waterhouse especially for shorting. Share availability terrible. I was required to cover my 29 1/2 WDRY shares at a small loss. I closed my acct with them a week or so ago and begin this Monday with Datek. Also , I had several instances where after entering orders and not seeing them on screen after 5 - 10 minutes , I'd re-enter and eventually end up with both orders filled !! Their solution ... call to confirm if orders entered !! Just one person's experience. Rob

To: Brooks Jackson who wrote (2994)	2/14/1998 4:30:00 PM
From: Mama Bear	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 18691

>>>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