Long Position

What Is Long Position?

In investing, taking a long position involves buying a security (a stock, usually) that you expect to increase in value over time. Frequently, it fits into an investment strategy known as passive or buy and hold investing because that's pretty much all you do: buy and hold.

Going long or being long is pretty much what most people think of when they think of investing. In fact, a long position is the strategy of choice for most individual investors. Certainly, it takes less effort to manage once you have chosen and purchased the stock.    Advantages of a long position

• Historically, the stock market and stocks have gone up over the long term. So, on average, taking long positions makes money. In fact, a passive investing approach often outperforms a more active investing approach over decades.

• Going long tends to be lower-risk than other strategies. Having a long term timeframe inevitably averages out any volatile ups and downs in the market.

• If you buy and hold a stock for at least one year, the taxes you pay on any profits when you sell are lower.