Quote from JohnTack:
Is this just a list of stock available to short, or it is something more complicated?
Quote from gaj:
don - are you able to do that with reg SHO stocks as well? and do you allow (or discourage, i mean) your traders from jumping in the high % shorts such as OSTK or some of the stocks which have >40% short interest?
Quote from gaj:
thanks for the reply, don....
yeah, i wasn't meaning overstock specifically (because the stock's action has been positive), just that was the first one which popped in my head as a stock which has been shorted to the hills for a real long time...

Quote from Don Bright:
The "published" short(able) list is primarily the list of stocks held by brokers, that they "loan" you when you short (and then they keep your short stock interest and charge you for it.
Whenever we find a "hard to borrow" security, we just call Goldman Sachs and they authorize the trade and give us a code to use. Then we can short the "hard to borrow" stocks...pretty big edge, especially with all the pairs trading going on.
Very few clearing firms have the same ability as Goldman, since they have such a big "dark pool" of liquidity.
Don
Quote from giggollo:
1. Is there an electronic way for you to put the request to Goldman for a hard-to-borrow stock or is the phone the only option? eg something on the platform or can they process it by email for example?
2. How often is Goldman able to find a hard-to-borrow stock for you on average?
