Investing General Discussion

Jysin said:

Not trying to call some BS forum drama... but .. maybe I am.

ToS has restricted TSLA short trades without utilizing their HTB program for as far back as I can remember (well back into 2021). Today you claim you can't short TSLA and didn't even know the HTB program existed.

Shonuff Are you masquerading as a profitable trader with a paper trade account?

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I'm in the program now. And no, TD just said they don't allow HTB for paper trading at all. I've been able to get TSLA to short until it got to $1,200. When it gets higher, there are no shares at all. edit: now I can short in paper trading also, so they said wrong. When I got approved for the real account, the paper one also got approved.

My trades are 60% real, and 40 paper. I still experiment, either with different styles, and time of day. Like I've started trading the last hour in paper trades, just to see if I can.

Not into forum drama, but you can get it at various times. When the short interest was only 1%, it was easy. I was able to get shares to short all last month, and none the last three days. People are not betting against Tesla (TSLA) anymore, short interest at all-time low

Hey, employee here.

TSLA is part of our hard to borrow program. Essentially some stocks are super volatile/we may have to have other firms lend us shares, so they're not shortable unless you're enrolled, even on a margin account. The requirements are to have a single account (not split) worth 100k. If you call or email in, we can send you the disclosures before you enroll.

karma said:

1. go on stocktwits, post huge gains, brag about how you knew exactly what was gonna happen, then spam your discord channel!
2. ???
3. Profit

Some of those people are making a killing fleecing people too. 40-50 bucks a month is the norm from what I have seen.

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There are a lot of hilarious people doing this on tik tok/instagram too.

Jysin said:

Hey, employee here.

TSLA is part of our hard to borrow program. Essentially some stocks are super volatile/we may have to have other firms lend us shares, so they're not shortable unless you're enrolled, even on a margin account. The requirements are to have a single account (not split) worth 100k. If you call or email in, we can send you the disclosures before you enroll.

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You are looking at old information. For instance, there is no longer a 100k minimum for HTB. And last month, before I took vacation, I could get shares. I took two weeks off, come back, and can no longer get shares. Something changed. Now that I signed up for HTB (45 minutes ago), I can now short it both on real and paper trading.

GME on a tear after hours. Up almost 30% 35%.

Gravel said:

GME on a tear after hours. Up almost 30% 35%.

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This is why I am a failure at stonks. I dont understand it lol. GME mentions they are gonna create some kind of NFT marketplace, so of course, it makes perfect sense for AMC to move from 22ish to 26ish in sympathy right?

Those two have been joined symbiotically since the meme craze started. GME would have earnings and AMC would move on GME earnings and vice versa.

Jysin, every day is different for me, real v paper. If you know anything about ToS, at the top of the page, green means real trading and brown means simulated. See below. I made roughly $1,400 today. Roughly 1,300 of it was real and 100 was simulated. 93% of my trades today were real. Sometimes, its the other way. Sometimes, its 50/50. And on days when I have work issues going on, or I'm in a crappy mood, it's paper trades all the way.

From now until the cows come home, I will be doing both. I practiced paper trading the open and the last hour (the most treacherous times to trade) for four months. I paper trade during Fed meetings and news events. When I try out different things, its in paper trades. I keep both apps open at the same time, and switch between the two. If I can't get a stock in real, I can't get in paper and vica versa. Its the same message, "contact your help desk to see if we can locate shares" whether its green or brown at the top.

Now that I signed up for HTB, I can get shares in both real and paper. It won't let me do it in after hours, but its letting me place a short for tomorrow, which it wouldn't do before.

I do not make any claims that I am consistently profitable. At some point, you have to keep testing yourself to make sure its not a string of luck. At what point one considers themselves to be consistent, I don't know. A year? Two? Feb 1 marks one year doing this, and I think I need another year before I can even think about calling myself consistent.

You'll never see me on here bragging about how great I am at trading. Because I remember trading real amounts last February and March and getting hammered, chasing stocks with too high a volatility or not having stops and getting emotional. Hell, I traded eight stocks at once, that was a nightmare. I still only do one trade at a time. I hope I'm better, but I wonder sometimes if I'm still that same guy ready to make those old mistakes. I had no rules back then, I have four pages now.

If I could go back in time, I would have done 100% paper trades. It is still a learning process. Anyone telling you they've mastered trading is a liar. It takes a lifetime.

If anyone is thinking they are better than the market, they need to read Warren Buffett's writings on luck streaks and market outperformance. It takes a long ass time to prove you can beat the market, if ever. We try to beat the market, but most of us should be in mutual funds and ETFs.

Anyone can have a few good months and string them together. Look at Cathie Woods. She was up 170%, and now she's horrible. All she does is average down.