CenterPoint Securities

What CenterPoint Securities Is

CenterPoint Securities is a premium direct market access broker that has built its reputation on one thing: having the best short locate inventory in the retail DMA space. For short sellers who trade momentum stocks, low-float runners, and hard-to-borrow names, CenterPoint's short availability is frequently cited as the best available to non-institutional traders.

Founded in 2009 and headquartered in San Diego, California, CenterPoint is a FINRA member broker-dealer. The company has grown particularly fast in recent years as day trading and short selling gained mainstream attention, and it has become one of the most recognized names among active equity day traders — especially those who follow traders like Ross Cameron (Warrior Trading) and other prominent day trading educators who use CenterPoint.

Short Locate Inventory — The Core Advantage

CenterPoint's short locate desk is its primary competitive advantage:

- Largest retail short locate inventory — access to shares that are difficult or impossible to borrow at other brokers
- Pre-market locates — request and receive short locates before the market opens
- Easy-to-borrow (ETB) list — extensive list of shares available for shorting without a locate
- Competitive locate pricing — transparent fee structure based on share availability and demand
- Real-time availability — see what's available to short before committing

For short sellers, this is everything. If you trade a strategy that involves shorting momentum stocks or low-float runners, CenterPoint's locate inventory directly affects how many trading opportunities you can act on.

Execution & Routing

- DAS Trader Pro and Sterling Trader Pro — both professional platforms available
- Direct routing to all major US exchanges and ECNs
- Sub-penny routing — access to sub-penny price improvement venues
- Professional-grade execution — sub-millisecond order handling
- Pre-market and after-hours trading — extended hours access

Pricing

CenterPoint uses tiered per-share pricing that scales with volume:

- Per Share — starting at $0.004/share for lower volume, dropping to $0.002/share or lower for high volume
- ECN pass-through — standard exchange fees/rebates
- Short locate fees — variable, depends on share availability (can range from $0.01 to $1.00+ per share for hard-to-borrow names)
- DAS Trader Pro — $150/month platform fee (waived with sufficient trading volume)
- $50,000 recommended minimum — higher than most DMA brokers, reflecting the professional positioning
- $25,000 minimum for Pattern Day Trader compliance

Who CenterPoint Securities Is For

Good fit:
- Short sellers who need the best possible short locate inventory
- Active day traders who trade momentum stocks and low-float runners
- Traders who follow prominent day trading educators (many recommend CenterPoint)
- Professional traders who want premium execution quality and are willing to pay for it

Not the right fit:
- Budget-conscious traders — CenterPoint is premium-priced with higher minimums
- Long-only traders — the short locate advantage doesn't apply
- Beginners — the platform and pricing assume professional-level trading
- Futures, forex, or crypto traders — US equities only

Bottom Line

CenterPoint Securities is the premium choice for short sellers and active equity day traders. The short locate inventory is genuinely the best available at the retail level — and for traders whose strategies depend on being able to short hard-to-borrow shares, that advantage alone justifies the premium pricing. CenterPoint is not the cheapest DMA broker, but it's the one that serious short sellers consistently choose.