what is a long position 
the term long position describes what an investor has purchased when they buy a security or derivative with the expectation that it will rise in value investopedia nono floresunderstanding a long positioninvestors can establish long positions in securities such as stocks mutual funds or currencies or even in derivatives such as options and futures holding a long position is a bullish view a long position is the opposite of a short position also known simply as short the term long position is often used in the context of buying an options contract the trader can hold either a long call or a long put option depending on the outlook for the underlying asset of the option contract for example an investor who hopes to benefit from an upward price movement in an asset will go long on a call option the call gives the holder the option to buy the underlying asset at a certain price conversely an investor who expects an asset s price to fall will be long on a put option and maintain the right to sell the asset at a certain price types of long positionsin reality long is an investing term that can have multiple meanings depending on in what context it is used the most common meaning of long refers to the length of time an investment is held however the term long has a different meaning when used in options and futures contracts going long on a stock or bond is the more conventional investing practice in the capital markets especially for retail investors with a long position investment the investor purchases an asset and owns it with the expectation that the price is going to rise this investor normally has no plan to sell the security in the near future in reference to holding equities which have an inherent bias to rise long can refer to a measurement of time as well as bullish intent an expectation that assets will appreciate in value in the long run the buy and hold strategy spares the investor the need for constant market watching or market timing and allows time to weather the inevitable ups and downs plus history is on one s side as the stock market inevitably appreciates over time of course that doesn t mean there can t be sharp portfolio decimating drops along the way which can be disastrous if one occurs right before an investor was planning to retire or needed to liquidate holdings for some reason 1 a prolonged bear market can also be troublesome as it often favors short sellers and those betting on declines finally going long in the outright ownership sense means a good amount of capital is tied up which could result in missing out on other opportunities in terms of options contracts a long position is one that benefits from a rise in the price of the underlying security these include being long calls or short puts 