The POINT of taking a short position is to "borrow shares" (for a fee), sell them immediately, then buy additional shares when the price drops, give THOSE shares back to the Broker you borrowed them from, and pocket the difference between what you got for the original sale and what the replacement shares cost you...
If you placed a Buy Order AND took a Short position in the same stock at the same time then you would be GUARANTEED to make a loss REGARDLESS of whether the price subsequently went up OR down!
What a silly thing THAT would be!
A stock spread is only possible with two different accounts, and at least one being a margins account (to be able to short).
Options are different in that you could trade both Calls and Puts on the same account (called an options spread), but a stock spread can only be emulated by having two accounts.
The only way to profit from this sort of a spread is if you know that the stock may waver around a specific price range, without really heading in any one particular direction. Or, you could be looking to do it as a sort of hedge, where you plan to close the losing position once you've ascertained the direction.
In my opinion though, don't bother. It's not worth it.
You can't do that because one trade will offset the other and you end up with nothing. Also, you will have no profits either way. However, there is a way you can simultaneously bet in both direction and that is using an options strategy called "Straddle" where you literally straddle both sides of the trade using both call and put options, allowing you to profit when the underlying stock moves in EITHER direction strongly. Read more about it from the resource below:
Apparently you do not know what you're doing
You buy and you have to put up money
You sell short - again you have to put up aditional money
and you can not use the credit from the short sale to cover the purchase
If you're long and short where and how do you make money
If you buy and immediately sell a pencil, what have you got? What have you done? Nothing.
In the case of stocks, you have an immediate commissions loss, twice the size of either buying or selling, with zero potential for profit.
if you know that the stock may waver around a specific price range, without really heading in any one particular direction.
And cover the commission with a bond. Now your talking real return.
stupid idea, but go ahead - its your money: waste it as you see fit.
