Long Position

A long position is the purchase of a security—such as a stock, futures contract, or options contract—with the expectation that its price will rise, allowing the investor to sell it later at a profit. Going long is the most intuitive and common investment stance: buying a stock and holding it with the hope that the company's value grows over time is a long position. In derivatives, a long futures position gains value as the underlying asset's price rises, while a long call option profits when the underlying moves above the strike price. The maximum loss on a long equity position is limited to the capital invested, while the potential upside is theoretically unlimited.