Comments on: Shorting SOXL SMH Semiconductors

By: rsotc

rsotc — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 18:36:53 +0000

@davenchop Not uncommon for brokers to not have the shares of many of the leveraged etfs, especially some of the less popular/activity trades etfs such as SOXL. A broker must have the shares available to lend you from the margin accounts of other clients they have... or they must go out and borrow them from another broker to lend to you to short. Interactive Brokers has always had the best availability of HTB (hard-to-borrow) shares,stocks & etfs alike, by far, from the various brokers that I use. IB & Fidelity both have shares of SOXL available to short today although Fidelity usually doesn't have many of the HTB shares available. You can always call Ameritrade & ask if they can locate some shares for you. Most brokers will typically charge a small premium (annual rate) while you hold the HTB shares & they can also call them in anytime, with little to no warning if they no longer have the shares to lend to you & can't locate anymore.

By: davenchop

davenchop — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 18:02:23 +0000

not allowed to short soxl at ameritrade… anyone else have this problem

By: rsotc

rsotc — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 17:32:33 +0000

Cantrip- I’ll often use the 3x etfs in my IRAs to trade a sector although if I expect the trade to last weeks or months, I’ll try to cover & often reverse (i.e.- micro-manage the trade) at the support/resistance levels and/or my various price targets along the way. This helps minimize the price decay, especially when the 3x is moving against your position or even just trading sideways for an extended period of time. SSG (2x short semi ETF) is another option with a little less decay over time due to the smaller amount of leverage. One potential plus for SOXS is that if the market is where I think it is, we’re about to start the next big leg down which is likely to be almost a straight shot down… the ideal scenario for holding a 3x inverse ETF. G-luck on the trade!

By: Cantrip

Cantrip — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 17:11:39 +0000

Using SOXS in IRA…

By: baller

baller — Wed, 21 Oct 2015 16:51:16 +0000

I was filled at $27.41.