when weak longs close their position it may present an opportunity for other investors to buy into the dip the selling pressure that weak longs create when closing their positions can lead to consolidation in a stock after a significant uptrend this explains why stocks tend to top out after following an earnings announcement because these traders lock in their profits and move on to other investment opportunities 
the benefit of a weak long is that the investor can secure profits immediately rather than succumbing to the disposition effect holding onto a losing stock for too long however weak longs tend to generate substantial churn in their portfolio making it harder to remain profitable such as through the use of a long term investing strategy example of weak longs