If you buy shares and hold them, you are long. Your upside is the rise in price plus any dividends; your downside is a fall toward zero in the worst case for equities. Most ordinary investors spend their careers mostly long. Short positions reverse the bet and carry different risks. Knowing you are long simply means your wealth moves with the asset’s price.
Stocks & TradingBeginner
Long Position
A long position means you own an asset and profit if its price rises, the opposite of a short position.
Also called going long, long exposure.
Related terms
- StockA unit of ownership in a company, giving the holder a claim on part of its assets and profits.
- Bull MarketA market in which prices rise over a sustained period and investor confidence is high.
- Bear MarketA market in which prices fall sustainably, commonly a drop of 20% or more from a recent peak.
- Limit OrderA limit order is an instruction to buy or sell a security only at a price you set, or at a better price.