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request to trade in stocks labeled HTB (hard to borrow), but you will need
to pay almost double the commission for each short executed. Usually this
makes using HTB stocks less than worthwhile. There are also interest
charges for borrowing shares, especially if you hold the position overnight.

The quantity of shorts allowed on a stock is supervised by the Regulator
to ensure that brokers, craving their commissions, are prevented from
shorting quantities larger than the amount of shares they actually hold.
Once each month, all brokerage companies must report the quantity of
shorts in their clients’ accounts. By way of example: a company has 100
million issued shares. Is it possible for the public to borrow from brokers
all 100 million and sell them short? This is a highly unfeasible situation,
but it is technically possible. To borrow the entire quantity, they must
all be purchasable. But every company holds shares that cannot be
purchased. Some are held by company owners and defined as Restricted.
Some are held physically in the form of paper deeds by people who have
purchased them. Since they are in the owners’ homes or safes, and not
deposited with brokers, they are not available for lending. The quantity of
a specific company’s shares open to short selling can be viewed on a range
of financial Internet sites, such as Yahoo Finance.

Reviewing Current Short Status on Yahoo Finance for Checkpoint,
CHKP