Originally posted by Vinny1
And also since the short sale rule doesn't apply in premarket or after hours trading,you can short through an ECN.
Actually, you can't, since the ECNs have all closed that gap.
Instinet will mark any short sale at or below the last NYSE close, up to 0.01 above the last NYSE close.
Island and ARCA will simply reject any short sale priced at or below the last NYSE close.
REDIBook, of all people, has a somewhat more liberal policy, implementing the NYSE uptick rule based on trades that occur on REDIBook. So, if a trade happens below the previous NYSE close, you can then short down to that trade price (+0.01 if it was a downtick). Unfortunately, while it marks up a new order to the allowable price, it won't move it back down if it becomes possible to short at a lower price that was at or above your limit.
I wish someone would explain, though, why they've chosen to check all short sales against their own borrow list and reject those that they think are not borrowable (like U) even if your broker has them available.
I don't know what BRUT does - I don't have access to it for listed stox.
I long for the old days (last year) :-(