Trading shares at ShortsandLongs.com
Buying or selling shares can seem at first to be a little mysterious and daunting. Well, at least that is the way it used to be – you phoned a broker who dazzled with jargon and quoted a price at which you could buy or sell. You couldn’t sell short (sell shares you didn’t own first) unless you were a professional market participant.
Today, via ShortsandLongs.com, you can go long or short any of the FTSE 100, FTSE 250 and 125 of the leading US stocks using our professional, user-friendly trading platform.
An example: Let's say you look at the price of British Airways and think at £1.50 the share price is too high – you feel the recession and volatile oil prices will impact BA’s share price.
You sell £10 of BA at £1.50, setting a stop loss at £2.00, therefore risking a maximum of £500 (150 - 200 = -50 x £10 = -£500). It meanders between £1.40 and £1.70 for a few weeks until it suddenly and dramatically starts to move in your favour.
It dips to £1.00 and you decide to close your position (ending your bet by buying at £1.00), meaning you make a profit of £500 (150 – 100 = 50 x £10 = £500). If the share price had gone to £2.00, your stop would have been triggered and you would have lost £500.
