Position Types
Long Position
Classic ownership of a security — profits when the price rises.
A long position describes the classic ownership of a security: the investor profits when the price rises and loses when it falls. Longs are the core building block of every portfolio and the only position type that 13F filings fully reveal.
Combined with short positions (short sales), longs form the "long/short equity" framework — the most common hedge fund strategy. Because shorts do not appear in 13F filings, the published portfolio only tells one side of the story.