Cool....so if I'm long 1000 sh, and want to close the long position and immediately short, can I just Sell 2000 sh resulting in a net short 1000 sh position? I think this how it works, but just wanted some confirmation from IB or long-time IB users (I've only been using the platform for 2 weeks but love it) -FastTrader
Fast: Been using IB for two months now and the answer is yes. You can do it both ways, too. Two orders in one click. When you catch the reversal point perfectly, it puts a smile on your face! Vas62: I had also wondered where the "Sell Short", "Buy to Cover" buttons were at first. Don't need them. IB knows your current position in a stock, or lack of it.
Thanks to moderator for moving this thread to appropriate place. On the other hand my post with misspelled user name "Jef",which I edited after posting appeared as a double posting. I apologize for misspelling def.
You can enter a single 2000-share order and it will split it into two orders - Sell 1000 and sellshort 1000 (because of the need to enforce the uptick rule for the short). It's not clear whether this is treated as 2 orders or 1 for commission purposes. Also note that it does a neat trick if you have sell orders that total more than your long position. If you are long 500 shares and have three sell orders pending for 500 shares each, the order with the lowest limit price will be a Sell and the other two will be sellshort. It does this assuming that the one at the lowest price will get filled first. If you move the price of the one that is currently lowest so it is no longer lowest, it updates the orders so that the one that is now lowest is becomes a Sell.