the basics of long, short, market, limit.
When entering an order, a trader has three choices – going ‘long’, going ‘short’, or trading a spread. Spreads will be covered in more detail later.
Because futures can be traded in both directions the traditional buy and sell terminology does not necessarily apply.
A trader gets long by buying a futures contract and gets short by selling a futures contract.
Trades can be initiated via a market order (at the market), or at a specific price (a limit order). Long limit orders are generally entered below the market while short limit orders are entered above the current market price. Other order types will be covered in more detail later.
Market orders are entered without a price and are filled ‘at the market’. Limit orders are entered at a specific price level and are only filled if the market crosses that price.