(FINANCE) a situation in which an investor stands to gain if a particular investment instrument (stocks, bonds, gold, real estate) goes up in value.
One "takes a long position" with
respect to a particular item.
There are several ways of taking a long position; an obvious way to go long is to actually own the
thing itself. Supposing you are taking a long position on
Intel common stock (NASDAQ:INTC), here are some other ways:
* Buy a call option for INTC, especially with a strike price higher than the current spot price.
* Write a put option for INTC, committing yourself to buy more INTC stock if the price goes down over the near term
* Buy a futures contract for INTC at
spot (or more).
CAVEAT LECTOR: there are many _potential_ definitions of long position; I have given the broadest
one available.