Short Position

The holder of a short position is bearish on the price of some asset, or expecting the price to fall. The opposite of a short position is a long position. An investor with a long position in an asset is expecting the price of that asset to rise. To have a short position in an asset can mean a few different things. To sell a futures contract is to have a short position in that contract's asset. A short position in a stock usually means that the investor has sold borrowed shares with the intention of by repaying the borrowed shares later with others purchased later at a lower price, thus closing out the short position. Any portfolio position can be described as either a long or short position with respect to any asset.