Index Long and Short and Charts

In stock indices trading, there are 2 types of trades, these are:

Long (buy) - long is if the trend is buy/bullish.
Short (sell) - short is if the price trend is sell/bearish.

Buying/Long and Selling/short in Stock Index Trading

Both terms in Indices Trade, refer to things we do when execute a trade.

Buying Long -indices trading term to use when buying and when opening a trade.

Selling short -indices trading term to use when selling & when registering and opening a trade.

Long - Long is another term used to refer to buying in indices, If a trader opens long it means that he buys the instrument which is heading in an upwards trend direction. When the trading price is moving in an upward indices trend the trend is referred to as bullish stock trend.

Short - Short is a term used to refer to selling of a trading instrument which is going in a downwards trend direction. When the price is going downwards then it is known as to as a bearish stock trend.

Basically the term, "selling short" can be refer to selling in the trading markets. Short selling involves trading an instrument anticipated to lose value relative to another asset. When such an index is sold, it reflects a position where value is transferred away from this trading instrument and held in another form - often in U.S. dollars - against which this instrument is measured.

Buy/Long

If the trading price is heading up we buy, this is known & referred to as going long - Hence long is just another name for buy. When the trend is moving up it is known as bullish, this is when a buy trade is placed. A bullish indices trend is identified by drawing an upward indices trendline on a chart. The example illustration explained & shown below shows a long/buy signal.

Buy/Long bullish Trend - How to Buy a instrument

Buy/Long

Sell/Short

If the price is going downward we sell, this is referred to as going short. When price trend is going downward it is known as to as a bearish. The example expounded & shown below shows a downward trend, this is when a short sell is placed. The short/sell is identified by drawing a downwards trendline on a chart. The example illustration explained & shown below shows a short/sell signal.

Sell/Short Bearish Trend - How to Sell a Instrument

Sell/Short - Indices Buy Trade & Stock Index Sell Trade

Charts

A stock chart provides a visual representation of trading prices (drawn on the y-axis) against time (drawn on the x-axis) for indices. The movement of market prices is plotted & drawn on these charts. The chart can be drawn as candle charts like the one below or as line charts or bar charts.

Chart Candlestick Charts - Chart - Draw Candles Charts on Trading Platform

Chart - Candles Charts

The three common types of charts used in indices are:

Candlesticks Charts
Line Charts
Bar Charts

These 3 types are discussed & explained in the topic Chart Types.

Trading Software

This is the software which is provided by a broker to help indices traders place their trades. Once you as a trader download & installs this trading software on your PC computer Desktop PC you can then begin to trade in the Index market. All indices trades are executed through this software. If you as a trader want to learn a trading platform, MetaTrader 4 Software is a good indices software to start with.

To set these orders, open MetaTrader 4 Software, open a "chart", right click in "chart", select and choose 'New Order", then select the trade order either buy or sell as pictured below. (Short-Cut key board Keys - Press "F9")

Setting Buy Long and Sell Short Trades on MT4

Placing Buy Long Order and Sell Short Order on the MT4 Platform

Study More Lessons: