"going short", "going long"

Posted by ESC on February 13, 2007

In Reply to: "Going short", "going long" posted by Andreas Engert on February 13, 2007

: Where do the finance terms "selling short", "going short", "going long" etc. come from?

These expressions are pretty straight forward:

"Bears usually 'sell short,' selling stocks they do not own in the hope that by the time they must deliver the stock to the buyer, the price will have dropped and they can make a profit on the difference. A bull optimistically believes that the market is going up and so buys stock, taking the 'long' position, and expects to sell later at a profit." Page 57, "Wall Street Slang: High Steppers, Fallen Angels, & Lollipops" by Kathleen Odean (Dodd, Mead & Company, New York, 1988). And on Page 86 it says, "Most market players take 'long positions,' buying stocks with hopes that the price will go up.if the (market) order goes through and then the price goes down, the position proves to be 'long and wrong.'"

See bull market, bear market at www.phrases.org.uk bulletin_board 13 messages 1164.html

• Bull and bear markets

• "going short", "going long" Bruce Kahl 14/February/07
  • "going short", "going long" Brian from Shawnee 14/February/07
    • "going short", "going long" Smokey Stover 14/February/07
      • "going short", "going long" ESC 14/February/07
        • "going short", "going long" Bruce Kahl 14/February/07