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To: drsvelte who wrote (4233)10/14/1998 9:33:00 PM
From: SJS  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 14427
 
Doc,

I don't think Fidelity does.

You don't get the "the entire wad of dough" from a short sale either. However if the short trades goes your way, they "mark to market" a percentage of the held short sale cash (complex formula...)and release it to you to actually put in your money market, or cash account.

When I've shorted and held the short for a week or so, money got released to me in this way. When you scalp during a daytrade, I never see this happen...



To: drsvelte who wrote (4233)10/14/1998 10:20:00 PM
From: Lee Lichterman III  Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 14427
 
It seems just from what has been posted that various brokerages differ greatly. I saw one person post that options had to be bought on margin where as Waterhouse does not allow options on margin. I believe Yamner pays interest to you on short sales. I would not short in any account that charges me interest for loaning them money. That is ridiculous. I do not use margin but the other poster was correct that at least with most brokerages, you must have a margin account to short just in case the stock goes up a million percent because they cure cancer over night or something like that. When shorting, your losses are unlimited where if long, the stock can only go to zero. I fired DLJ a long time ago due to their non investor friendly ridiculous rules on options and long time spent on hold in crisis situations. I have been fairly happy with Waterhouse and very happy with Yamner and Brown Co. EDIT - DLJ also waits 5 days before paying you interest on sales of stock but Waterhouse and others start the clock immediately.

Lee



To: drsvelte who wrote (4233)10/14/1998 10:53:00 PM
From: 007  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 14427
 
Thanks for the clarification. I think I am being charged interest by my broker. I guess that's a good deal for them - double interest. I know it's off-topic, but I'd appreciate any recommendations for web brokers that have very fast executions for frequent trading. Who loves their broker?

Preventing borrowing:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the only way to prevent your shares from being borrowed and sold short is by taking delivery of the certificates - otherwise they are held in street name and are borrowable. I don't think that cash or margin accounts make any difference, nor do I think longs should even be trying to prevent shorts anyway. Them shorts sure didn't hurt AMZN any.
OO7