Shorting Stocks Advice

[Jake14]

I have just recently got into stocks and have an IG account that I use to just buy and sell stocks. However I would like to be able to short stocks (mostly US) without using options or leverage etc, as every option like this seems to have income requirements that I don't meet. I've had trouble finding an answer to whether this is possible or what brokers can do this. Any advice as to what I can do or what brokers I can use for this would be very appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Smurf1976]

Firstly - Welcome to ASF!

On the subject I'll simply say what you probably don't want to hear. The market trends up over time and that combined with dividends does bias in favour of those who trade long positions rather than short.

Just my two cents worth. I'm not saying don't ever go short but if you're new to stocks then my personal opinion is that it's not the right place to start. Others may have a different view of course.

 

[kahuna1]

Howdy ...

Had a similar question not so long ago about what account ....

My response ... rather than do it again. Sorry if its not exactly what you want.

No idea as to account ... sorry.

Maybe a TAB account is more fun and will cost A LOT less ?



BY your question and being a newbie ... or learning which is a good thing ... No offense meant, I am still learning many moons and decades latter.

Shorting shares ... is actually MARGIN whatever you may think. Your granting unlimited upside ... so you think a share goes down. It invents cold fusion and the 10 cent share goes on hold whilst announcement made comes back at $1,000- or $1- million. Less dramatic say a miming company discovers a massive deposit and your bet ... hoping you loose only say 10% on 50k, turns out to be 2000% or a total loss of 100k v an expected 5 k loss.

Not a fan of shorts, even with many years experience , not in the case of specific risk ... that being over a single share .... often your betting against stupidity and whilst a company may come out with shocking news, and your right, in the meantime it can rally 100% and your wiped out when say 2 years latter its worth 2 cents verses the 50 cents starting point.

Non specific risk or market risk even at times is not for the less experienced people. At times one blinks and its up or down a few percent .... even 5% or say 9/11 ... 15% ..

good luck

 

[barney]

I have just recently got into stocks and have an IG account that I use to just buy and sell stocks.

Howdy Jake and as @Smurf1976 has said … welcome!

What the two lads above has said is sage advice. I recall many years back not long after starting to try and trade, I used to think … everything I buy seems to go down

So frustration led me to think, I can pick losers way better than winners ….. so I started shorting stocks all the time …. guess what happened lol ….. yep

One of my final Short trades was on Boral many years ago when really bad news hit the wires and their profits were going to be badly affected ……. I got in real early (short) on the re-open from trading halt and was 100% confident that this would be the perfect trade .....

I think Boral ended up something like 6% or more higher on the day ..... i closed the position and went back to my (broken) drawing board frustrated, depressed and bewildered all at the same time

At least I can laugh about it now, but I'm sure you get the moral of the story.

I won't tell you not to trade Short if that's what you decide to do, but do plenty of research before you put your hard earned up for auction. (That goes for trading Long as well) Cheers.

 

[Jake14]

Hey guys, thanks a lot for all the advice. I know me being new and asking this seems like its a pretty bad idea however I have some experience trading different markets and am definitely not planning to use large amounts of money. This is more for day trades when certain things happen. I've also got advice from someone who is very successful doing trades like this. Thanks for the concern however I am just looking to find ways to be able to do this, if any.

 

[Knobby22]

Jake I know someone slightly who is very smart and he successfully shorts but does it on the index, not individual companies. I suspect this reduces the risk.

 

[IFocus]

Jake welcome, all of the above, plus will just add if not already said probability in the numbers if you believe that stating the obvious means shorting in a bear market, long in a bull market, currently still a bull market.

 

[HelloU]

FP Markets
If using IG it may be worth reading the IG thread on here to recognise the limitations of IG.
Good luck in all this.

 

[canaccord guaranteed]

I have just recently got into stocks and have an IG account that I use to just buy and sell stocks. However I would like to be able to short stocks (mostly US) without using options or leverage etc, as every option like this seems to have income requirements that I don't meet. I've had trouble finding an answer to whether this is possible or what brokers can do this. Any advice as to what I can do or what brokers I can use for this would be very appreciated. Thanks.

dont think predicting falling stocks is necessarilly easier then rising ones especially if in USA here might be ok as companies fail far more here

 

[milken$]

I have just recently got into stocks and have an IG account that I use to just buy and sell stocks. However I would like to be able to short stocks (mostly US) without using options or leverage etc, as every option like this seems to have income requirements that I don't meet. I've had trouble finding an answer to whether this is possible or what brokers can do this. Any advice as to what I can do or what brokers I can use for this would be very appreciated. Thanks.

study more technical set ups tradeview.com a good site

 

[barney]

dont think predicting falling stocks is necessarilly easier then rising ones especially if in USA here might be ok as companies fail far more here

You are possibly right there CG although a high percentage of Aussie fails are very Spec so finding any "borrow" could be difficult. I'm with @Knobby22 ...…. Anyone keen on selling short would be better served Index trading …. more selection, less inherent problems and more historical analysis available to the ordinary Punter.

study more technical set ups tradeview.com a good site

That could be some kind of a record @milken$ ….. Member since 2008 and only 2 Posts …… You are obviously a man of few words ..... feel free to add further to other threads

 

[DkCreative]

I have just recently got into stocks and have an IG account that I use to just buy and sell stocks. However I would like to be able to short stocks (mostly US) without using options or leverage etc, as every option like this seems to have income requirements that I don't meet. I've had trouble finding an answer to whether this is possible or what brokers can do this. Any advice as to what I can do or what brokers I can use for this would be very appreciated. Thanks.

I would say shorting Marijuana stocks would be a good bet