Definitions
What is “Long”
The act of opening a buy position in the market.
- (1) One who has bought a futures contract to establish a market position; (2) a market position that obligates the holder to take delivery; (3) one who owns an inventory of commodities.
- A market position where the client has bought a currency he previously did not hold. Normally expressed in base currency terms.
Going Long
“Going long” is simply buying a CFD position to profit from a price increase.
Very similar to traditional trading in that the idea is to buy low and sell high.
The difference between the entry price and the exit price is the profit or loss that is made on the CFD trade.
The example below of a long trade is compared to a traditional equity trade.
The reason for this is to illustrate the power of leverage for a CFD trader over a traditional share trade as well as that minimal capital is required to gain similar profits and how the CFD trader Return on Investment (ROI) is far greater than the share trade.
This is simply because the CFD trader only needs a fraction of the capital to take the trade.
Example of Long trading
| CFDs | Shares | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAY 1 | Amy | Steve | ||
| Opening Purchase Price | $35 | $35 | ||
| Buy Quantity | 500 | 500 | ||
| Commission Paid | 0.10% | $17.50 | 0.10% | $17.50 |
| GST | $0 | $1.75 | ||
| Total Exposure | $17,500 | $17,500 | ||
| CFD Margin – 5% | 5% | $875 | ||
| Initial Outlay | $892.50 | $17,519.25 | ||
| DAY 2 | ||||
| Closing BHP Position | ||||
| Closing Price | $36 | $36 | ||
| Quantity sold to close position | 500 | 500 | ||
| Position Closed | $18,000 | $18,000 | ||
| Commission | 0.10% | $18 | 0.10% | $18 |
| GST | $0 | $1.80 | ||
| Financing charged at 6.5% p.a based on RBA rate of 4.5% ** | $3.16 | $0 | ||
| $35.50 x 500 x (RBA rate + 2%) / 365 | ||||
| Total Outlay | $913.66 | $17,539.05 | ||
| Gross Profit | $500 | $500 | ||
| Net Profit (Gross minus trading cost) | $461.34 | $460.95 | ||
| Return on Investment | 50.49% | 2.63% |
** Financing is calculated at the closing market price of $35.50
NOTE: If the price of BHP had fallen by $0.50 Amy would have incurred a loss of $538.66
NOTE: If the price of BHP had fallen by $0.50 Amy would have incurred a loss of $538.66