A long position profits when the price of the underlying asset rises. The trader has bought the asset (or a derivative tracking it) and benefits from upward moves; the position's value is roughly its size times the price.
'Long' is the directional opposite of 'short'. In a long, the loss is bounded (price can only go to zero); the gain is theoretically unbounded. This asymmetry is the structural argument for being a long-biased investor over very long horizons.
Long can also be used loosely to mean 'I expect this to rise' regardless of whether a position is open. In platform-speak, however, 'going long' means opening a buy-side position.
How Noon Barbari uses Long
Every concept here is implemented in the platform. Open the relevant docs or tool to see it in action.
Long-biased strategies →Related terms
- General
Short
A position that profits when price falls. To 'short' = to sell first, buy later.
- Risk
Leverage
Position notional divided by posted margin. 10× leverage = 10× the equity exposure.
- Risk
Position size
How many units of an asset a trade holds — derived from risk budget and stop distance.
- Risk
Stop loss
A pre-committed exit level that caps the maximum loss on a trade.