Originally posted by lundy
If you want to be long and short at the same time, it would be wise to stay away from stocks that follow the rest of the market. I've found that the cheaper the stock, the more likely it will move based on it's own fundamentals rather than what the overall market is doing.
edit: this would solve the problem of ending up witha 50/50 hedge.
Thare is nothing wrong with a 50/50 hedge; that is the idea. You just don't want the individual issues to all follow the overall market direction.