Search results

A 20% or higher borrowing fee is quite unusual, and would only be for very hard-to-borrow stocks that most brokers wouldn't allow you to short at all. With IB you can short almost anything (currently 8025 US stocks) but it might be expensive. You can see the current fee and 10-day history...

Yes that's right. So, for instance, if you were short $100K for a month in a stock with a 20% borrowing fee, cost would be around $1650. Not necessarily a problem if your strategy is profitable enough, but definitely something to take into account. IB doesn't itemize their interest charges...

(a) I haven't been on ET very often since then; (b) it took me most of that time to develop a profitable methodology and therefore feel like I know what I'm talking about; (c) this particular topic struck me as one where I had some knowledge worth sharing - my understanding of IB's buy-in system...

IB sends out their "notice of possible buy-in" at 2:55pm EST. I have received them even when the stock shows huge availability to short, but I was still bought in, because their Short Stock Availability database isn't always accurate. If they do buy you in, they will do it for the number of...