What are “long” or “short” positions?

What are “long” or “short” positions?

A long position is one in which you buy a currency at one price, with the expectation of selling it later on at a higher price. Obviously, you anticipate that the market will rise.

A short position is one in which you sell a currency with the expectation of buying it back at a lower price. Here, you expect the market to fall.

Every Forex position you take automatically entails going long in one currency, and short the other. If you buy one, by default you are shorting the other.

Entry Orders:

Buy Entry Limit order– Buy Below current market price
Buy Entry Stop order – Buy Above current market price
Sell Entry Limit order – Sell Above current market price
Sell Entry Stop order – Sell Below current market price


A market order is an order to buy or sell at the current market price. For example, EUR/USD is currently trading at 1.2540. If you wanted to buy at this exact price, you would click buy and your trading platform would instantly execute a buy order at that exact price.

Use appropriate stop-loss orders at all times to cut your losses. Almost every trader at some point makes the mistake of letting his or her losses run in hopes that the market will eventually turn around in his or her favor. More often than not it simply leads to an even greater loss. Simply learn to cut your losses. Cutting losses is painful for every trader. The ability to cut one’s losses in time is the sign of a seasoned trader. Using a stop is always the smart move. Avoid placing protective stops at obvious round numbers. Stops on long positions should be placed below round numbers (10, 20, 25, 50, 75) and on short positions above such numbers.