What exactly does it mean when you short stock and then buy it long?

Question

What exactly does it mean when you short stock and then buy it long?

Answer 1

When you short a stock, you are betting the price will decrease; when you buy long, you are betting the price increases.  For example.  You buy a stock long for $10 per share and it increases to $15 per share, you make $5.  If you had shorted the stock, you would have lost $5; however, if the price had fallen to $5 per share, you would have made $5  on a short stock.

Answer 2

Ask a broker in a brokerage firm for the answer since is their field of endeavor.

Answer 3

"buy it long" just means you're buying, you say buy or you say go long, but they mean the same thing.

when you short a stock, you borrow shares (this is handled by the DTC) and sell them into the market; you now owe shares, and must pay them back at some point.

if the price of the shares falls, you can buy them back cheaper and hence pocket the difference, if it goes up, it costs you more to give them back and so you lose.

Answer 4

it means you sell the stock first and then sell it later to close your position.

Answer 5

Buy "long" is either buying a stock to create a new position in that security or increase an existing position in that stock.

If you don't own a security and buy it, you are going "long" that stock.

If you own shares in XYZ, and decide to buy additional shares, you are buying long to increase your current holdings

Selling short means that you are selling a stock either before you actually own it, or you can't deliver it,

You sell a stock, knowing that you hope to buy it later at a lower price, it's almost the same as buying low selling high, except you're selling first then buying - hopefully at a lower price,

If you own a stock, but not sure you really want to sell it, you can sell it short, and if the stock goes down you can buy it back cheaper, but if the stock doesn't move, you can always send in (delivery) the stock you already own.