IB daytrading:how do you simulataneously long and short?

Say, you had entered into a short position for SKF,

and in the middle,

it actually embarks on a brief up trend,

and you want to catch this brief upwave, and want to do some brief long trade while keeping your short position open,

How do you do that?

Is it impossible and I have to do this from two accounts?

Thanks

 

I prefer to be long , short, and flat at the same time.

 

You could buy the FAZ to hedge your short SKF.

 

There is no need to keep your short position open unless you have some bizarre tax reason in which case you need a second account.

Go short.
Go long by closing as many shorts as needed + adding more long if its a bigger posn
Close long with adjustments as above by reopening short position.

 

As long as I know it's not possible with IB. Or for stocks in general. This is called hedging in Forex.

 

It is legally possible for stocks with other brokers like Ameritrade. With IB, you will need to work it around if you wish as suggested by others.