# How to short sell?



## SamLau (7 June 2009)

Hi,

I've been reading up on short selling.  This is what hedge funds do right?
So my question is can anyone short sell? and how do i go about doing it ?

thanks


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## Timmy (7 June 2009)

Sam, have a look at some of the threads on https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/search.php?searchid=2036608, these will give you some useful info on shorting shares and using alternatives like CFDs to achieve the same thing.


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## jono1887 (7 June 2009)

depending on your broker, you may have to apply to activate this option. This is the case with Comsec, but with other brokers you may be able to just do it.

It involves the process of borrowing the shares from the broker and then selling them high. Then buying them back at a lower price and giving the shares back to the broker. The diff between sell and buy price is your profit.


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## SamLau (8 June 2009)

Im with St George Directshares.  I can not see any option for selling short.  Im guessing i need to upgrade to directshares power (which costs $79 a month)


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## jono1887 (8 June 2009)

SamLau said:


> Im with St George Directshares.  I can not see any option for selling short.  Im guessing i need to upgrade to directshares power (which costs $79 a month)




im not sure about st george... i read their site and its confusing . I think their platform isnt that great for trading, perhaps more towards investing.


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## kam75 (10 June 2009)

Been trading CFDs short over liquid stocks on the US Markets for the past 4 years with some success.  Same thing as selling short, just stock on margin and you get paid interest too!

Stock selection and timing are paramount - read Stan Weinstein's "The Secrets for Profiting in Bull and Bear Markets" to learn how.


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## mrluva (13 June 2009)

TIMMY, I'm not able to see any thread in that link, can you pls send it again.Thanx


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## Timmy (13 June 2009)

mrluva said:


> TIMMY, I'm not able to see any thread in that link, can you pls send it again.Thanx




Sorry mrluva - it should work now.  Or just try https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/search.php?searchid=2036608


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## mrluva (14 June 2009)

Timmy said:


> Sorry mrluva - it should work now.  Or just try this link here.




Oooops didn't open again..wot am I doing wrong?...please send me the path or forum link shortcut(copy paste link)..I want to learn short selling...want to know if I have to buy back same day I short sell..or can I do it next day..?


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## Timmy (14 June 2009)

Hmm - I don't think it is you, not sure why but try this:

https://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/search.php?searchid=2036608

If it doesn't work this is the link:
aussiestockforums.com/forums/search.php?searchid=2036608


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## Strident (21 June 2009)

P.s. the above link still doesn't work (for me anyway)

Lately I've also been looking into short selling for hedging / speculation. Apologies for the excessive use of three letter acronyms to follow.

Have CFD's largely replaced the traditional short selling methods?

I've been looking at the Etrade and can't find any hint of short selling, and Comsec only offers day shorts for... only one company... and no term shorts...?

Surely that can't be right.

On the CFD front, Commsec does ASX CFDs and OTC CFDs, but I can't seem to find any reference to DMA on the OTC CFDs section of their website.

Whereas Etrade does DMA but not the ASX ones. 

So, I was wondering, what's everyone's favourite broker for short exposure and why?

And what are the advantages and disadvantages of ASX CFDs vs. OTC DMA?


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## Timmy (21 June 2009)

Strident said:


> P.s. the above link still doesn't work (for me anyway)




OK.  I surrender!

Do an "Advanced Search" with these two words:

short
sell

Do the search by key words "Search Titles Only".


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## Tradesurfer (12 July 2009)

With the advent of ETFs traded on the US Market, many of these products now offer inverse or short etfs that look to go up when their underlying basket or index goes down. These can be usefull in accounts where short selling is not permitted. I won't go into general definitions of ETFs as I'm sure they are already on the boards but inverse etfs are something that might be appealing.

One example is Symbol: DOG which is the bear market etf tracking the inverse of the Dow Jones Index on a daily basis. This is one of the proshares etfs and there are quite a bit of them out now covering various indexes or sectors.

Now this doesn't help with replicating the short sale of an individual stock but if you have a bearish disposition overall this might help. 

Regards

Derek


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## Charlie Whiskey (16 July 2009)

I would be interested in a good broker that does term short selling too as Commsec only allows day short. Someone mentioned using CFDs but I don't know much more than what the letters stand for. How liquid is its market? Anyone with experience shorting with CFDs over Commsec to share?


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