Going long or going short
There are two possible positions that you can take in the market. You can either go long or short. To go long means that you believe the price of the commodity will increase and you buy a futures contract of that commodity. This position is held by traders who expect that sometime in the future you can offset the contract at a higher price and make a profit from the transaction. This is considered a bullish position meeting you expect the price to rise.
Going short means you are expecting the price of the commodity to fall and so you sell a futures contract of that commodity. With this trade you are expecting that in the future you can offset the contract at a lower price and profit from the price decrease. Investors who make this trade are considered bearish because they believe the price will decrease in the future.
Tags: commodity position, commodity trading position, long commodity, short commodity