Buying and Selling Gold - Going Long or Going Short

When it comes to trading Gold online, traders can make profits by buying Gold contracts or selling Gold contracts depending on the direction Gold prices. If gold prices are moving upwards then a trader will buy Gold so as to make a profit. If prices are moving down then a trader will sell Gold so as to make a profit.

The prices of Gold at any particular moment are either moving upwards or downwards in what is known as a trend. The trend is the general direction of the Gold prices. Therefore, if the price of gold is moving in a general upward direction, the trend is upwards and a trader should buy Gold, if the price of gold is moving in a general downward direction, the trend is downwards and a trader should sell Gold.

Going Long or Going Short

Going Long - When a trader buys Gold this is known as Going LongGoing Short - When a trader sells Gold this is known as Going Short

Long - long is another term used to refer to buying, when a trader goes long it means that they have bought the Gold metal that is heading upwards in a bullish trend. When the prices of Gold are moving in a general market trend that is upwards then the market is said to be bullish.

Short - short is another term used to refer to selling, when a trader shorts Gold, it means that they have sold the Gold metal that is heading downwards in a bearish trend. When the prices of Gold are moving in a general market trend that is downwards then the market is said to be bullish.

Buy/Long

Basically the term, "buy long" can be used refer to buying currencies in the online Gold trading exchange market. Buy long is used to transact when the prices of Gold are predicted to appreciate in value compared to the USD, when the Gold metal, Gold is bought then it is the same as holding value in Gold and instead of holding value in USD - Holding Value in Gold after selling USD.

If the price of Gold is going up we buy, this is referred to as going long, therefore long is just another name for buy. When the Gold price trend is going up it is referred to as a bullish,this is when a buy order is placed. A bullish trend is identified by plotting an upward trend line on a Gold chart. The example below shows a long/buysignal.

Buy/Long - Gold Price Upward Trending Market

Sell/Short

Basically the term, "sell short" can be used refer to selling currencies in the online Gold trading exchange market. Sell short is used to transact when the prices of Gold are predicted to depreciate in value compared to the USD, when the Gold metal, Gold is sold then it is the same as holding value in USD and instead of holding value in Gold - Holding Value in USD after selling Gold.

If the price of Gold is going down we sell, this is referred to as going short, therefore short is just another name for sell. When the Gold price trend is going down it is referred to as a bearish,this is when a sell order is placed. A bearish trend is identified by plotting a downward trend line on a Gold chart. The example below shows a short/sell signal.

Sell/Short - Gold Price Downward Trending Market

Gold Trading Platform

This is the software that is provided by an online broker to help traders make place their transactions of buying and selling Gold. Once you download and installs this software on your computer you can then begin to trade Gold online. All transactions are executed through this trading platform. If you want to learn a platform, MetaTrader 4 is a good platform to start with.

To set these buy and sell orders open MetaTrader 4, open a "chart ", right click on the "chart ", select "New Order ", then select the order either sell or buy as shown below. (Short Cut Keys - Press F9)

In the example below we have used the currency pair EURUSD, if you want to trade Gold just change the symbol to Gold and you can then use the buttons shown below to either go long or go short when trading Gold metal.

Alternatively you can first open the Gold chart and place a Gold trading order directly from the chart.

Going Long and Going Short on the MetaTrader 4 Gold Trading Platform