I don't think so. While it sometimes seems as if the broker is making up a lot of this stuff, this time he was just following the rules. A tick is an upward or downward movement of a security as it trades. In the investment world there are more ticks than you'll find in Yellowstone Park. To name a few you'll find Closing Ticks, Downticks, Minus Ticks, Plus Ticks and Zero Ticks.
Technicians watch the movement of a tick to get a feel for the trend of stock as it trades.
Once you feel comfortable as an investor, shorting a stock can be just as lucrative as going long. There are, however, a number of rules regarding shorting that do not come into play when you're going long. One of the most important is the need for the stock to be on an uptick before you can make a trade. This simply means that the sale must be made at a price higher than the previous trade. There is the additional situation of the stock having traded at the same price for the last two trades and the trade previous to that being lower.