Selling with the goal of profiting, also known as shorting, is one of those things that many new traders are baffled by. How can I sell something that I don’t own? How can I win if something appears to be losing? This video answers those questions and more.
From the definition of the term, to what it looks like in the Trading 212 platform, we look into this term in a simple way that will make it as simple as possible to understand. David goes through the theory and demonstrates it in the real market with a step by step guide on how to find situations when a short could be a winning one and how to set up and execute a selling position.
Questions, comments? Let us know below.
At Trading 212 we provide an execution only service. This video should not be construed as investment advice. Investments can fall and rise. Capital at risk. CFDs are higher risk because of leverage.
Great video, thanks a lot
i like all your videos
thank you
Great video!
Why it’s called short?
I don’t know! Maybe because it’s the opposite of going long.Or, you are “short” of the stock i.e. don’t actually have any.
Because you’re selling high and buying low instead of the usual buying low and selling high (long). I think…
Hi David, great video again, how do you calculate the best time to pull out a successful trade?
Hi – I would just use some form of trailing stop loss – so the trend change would take me out.
Hi can you please make a video about MACD n RSI Setting , thanks
Hi there, you may watch the following videos:
The Best Times to Use the MACD Indicator – https://youtu.be/E3KP1WyLITY
Beginner Guide To the RSI Indicator – https://youtu.be/rgVdgR1y1Dg
How to Use the RSI – https://youtu.be/jCNmjC8Uxqk
Identifying RSI Divergences – https://youtu.be/TeKNi5ySp_g
hey buddy , what’s your email address?
JD@jonesdc.com
what type of platform it is?? is it c trader??
It’s Trading 212. Open a trading account and trade with virtual money using the Practice Mode at http://www.trading212.com/en/Free-FOREX-Practice-Account-GBP.
Trading 212 Thanks 😁😁
So, you need to own the stock of the company that you are shorting?
Hi Ryan, short selling on Trading 212 is available for the Forex and CFDs trading instruments. When trading CFDs you do not own the underlying asset. Read more at http://www.trading212.com/en/CFDs.
@Trading 212 So you borrow the underlying asset then; you don’t own it as you haven’t bought it.
My current broker is charging huge spread. Any recommendations for lower spread charging online platform?
Hi, it depends what markets you are trading. Obviously in these videos the platform is Trading212 and you can see their spreads are pretty tight for the major markets.
Hi David,
Could you make a video on how a trader can logically time longs and shorts with volatile things that are moved by news and emotion, such as bitcoin and Tesla, vs a standard stock that commonly follows indicators, such as GE.
Thanks for your request, Van.
Real useful. The least I could do is like and comment. Thanks
When you say “buy it back” what do you mean? Do you open a new buy position, or just close the trade once you’ve made your profit?
Hi – close the short trade, hopefully for a profit.
Thank you for these videos!
Can you also do this with crypto currencies on Coinbase?
Thank you.
Is there a timeline attached to the initial purchase? Like do you have a deadline?
No, you can usually run it as long as you want to, assuming you have enough money in your account to cover the position if it starts to move against you.
Excellent, clear and concise
Sir do you recommend setting two stop loss orders then.
1- If the price doesn’t drop
1- if the price drops as you predicted
Hello, How are you?
Thank you very much for all the videos so well explained, it is a pleasure to hear your pronunciation, I can understand almost everything, and that I do not speak English jejeje.
I would like to take the opportunity to ask you about two things that I have not seen yet, and some traders comment,
1- do not use stop loss, but rather edging …
2 – use the order book, see the number of people or orders placed in a trend or another, and so see where are the possible resistances and orders, at what price since it would see the number of orders placed at different prices. ..
3· can you show how to uses traling stops?
I operate in cryptocurrencies, but I only see in the order book if the number of buyers exceeds by more than 25% the amount of btc that are in that currency, by ej. for sale there are 20 btc, but in shopping orders there are 30 or more btc. I have done small operations of 5% profit taking, and it has gone well so far.
You could do some video about scalping.?
many hugs and greetings from Venezuela ..
you are very much appreciated see you
Thanks for reaching out, Daniel. Check out this video on Trailing Stop Orders – https://youtu.be/-4dIZPhm0uo.
thansk, i didnt seeing before …
the video is much better when the robotic girl speaks.
Quality presentation as usual. Was the video published on the same day of the presentation?
This video was published on the 10th of January 2018.
I have understand how to trade , thank you very much sir.
I’ve learned so much from David and 212 Trading. You blokes rock!
Thanks teacher
As the presenter says, you are not buying or selling anything. The pairs are there for you to bet higher or lower on. Brokers such as 212 loan you most of the trade which is called the margin and you pay a daily interest. You always start at a loss which is called the spread. The graph is completely random to the trader so past performance is in no way a guide to the future. regards Mr Logic
Awesome vid. D.
Q. Is there a time limit of when you have to close the shares that you short? Keep up the gr8 work. Happy Easter and God bless.🙋
Not usually – particulary if you are trading it using CFDs. You can just continue to run the trade.
This guy is the best !
Can I short EQ for long term, say I short it today and buy it after a week? or is that only for day trading?
Hi Kishan, short selling equities is not available on Trading 212. However, you can open short positions with CFD instruments.
As a begginer I find your videos very educational and usfull,I have been watching through the playlist for the past few weeks and have learnt alot practising my knowledge on demo and once confindent enougth I take to my real account,Thankyou David great teacher.
Hi David I understand there is a certain timeframe to cover the short, however what’s the average day of volume when we calculate short ratio?
what is the application you use to trade here ? I like the graph and trend from this apps
The name of the app is Trading 212. Try it out for free with virtual funds at http://www.trading212.com/en/Practice-for-Free-GBP.
IM a dummy who just finished watching the movie “The big Short” and still have no idea what i have watched. it looked interesting but it got me hooked up into what the hell is going on in the movie. im a computer programmer so really im lost.
So what i don’t understand from all the explanations out there on youtube is the following :
1. *YOU* borrow 1000 shares from a *COMPANY* trading at $10 per share and immediately sells those shares to a *BUYER* ?
– so i take it *YOU* don’t immediately repay the shares you owe from the *COMPANY* since that wouldn’t make any sense there is no profit there right ?
– now the *BUYER* owns 1000 shares from the *COMPANY* . the *COMPANY* still waiting for *YOU* to pay back 1000 shares ?
– now the value of the *COMPANY* drops say to $4 per share. my question is, you buy back the 1000 shares *FROM WHOM* ?
from the same *BUYERS* you sold it to ? they are required to sell them back to you ?
or are you simply paying back the 1000 shares you owe from the *COMPANY* based on their current value of $4 per share ?
– is there a scenario where you CANT buy back the 1000 shares that you sold ? and therefore cannot close your debt with the *COMPANY* ?
i know these questions are a bit dumb even for a dummy but i really have no background in economics or in business. BUT help me to satisfy my curiosity.
First of All u don’t borrow anything from a company , there is an option called SELL , before even BUYING. it means u sell the stock first let’s say its current price is $100 and u think the price is gonna go down and when after some days or months it goes down to like $50 u buy . Which leaves u with $50 . You sell first and buy low
Hi, thank you. Great video. My question is, how long can you hold your positition, especially when your short prediction goes wrong ?
I mean, for example i buy a stock at $10 (hope tht the market gonna fall to $9, and get $1 profit). But turn out in the few weeks the market keep goes up to 11 dollar. As u mentioned, if i sell in that positition i would hv loose ($1), so why dont i just keep the short and waiting (maybe for years) and hope one day the stock goes down to $9 and making profit ?
Thank you
Hello Diego, you may keep your positions with CFDs open as long as you have sufficient funds on your trading account balance, or until the expiration date, in case the position is with CFDs on futures contracts.
U can do that in CFD but that would be rather stupid. Cause the price going up to let’s say around 5% shows that u r wrong and u should close ur position right away. As u don’t know when or even if it will go again to ur selling price and then ur potential loss will be unlimited.
Hello There. I don’t understand how will I buy back? I clicked to sell at £150 and when the price reached the £100 and I think it’s time to “get rid off”, I do and at the same price (at £100) I have to buy back immediately and sell it at a higher price than £150? For example I can sell it for £170 and my profit is £20?
Shot selling can be done only on f&o right.
God finally i got it like the concept of put and call thx
So if you go short…you sell first then buy. So once you buy and you get profit hopefully, do you then own the shares and have to sell again once the market goes up?
Hey Shaun, once you’ve purchased a share, you can keep it for as long as you like. If that share, then, proceeds to go up or down in value, it’s entirely up to you to choose if and when to sell it.
If I ‘sell’ at a certain price, say 150p and it’s drops to 145p, I seem to be in a negative until the price drops even further, say 100p, why is this?
I need to know this to
Thankyou thats the best explanation of short selling i’ve seen.
Hello. Nice platform? Which is it? Please. Thanks! 😁
Hello there. The platform is Trading 212, it’s available on iOS and android as well as in the form of a web app. Give it a try!
Thanks dude.
What programs are you using? Looks simple
This may be a dumb question which i’m sorry for, but If I for instance Short USDJPY at 108.350 and it goes down to 108.300 Is it required that the next trade needs to be a Buying position on USDJPY?
0:35 – David thinks that Tesla stock is going to drop
😂
But where do you get the shares to sell if you don’t have any?
Hi, I’ve sold short and seen the market drop, but my running profit/loss in the currency of the money in my trading account, fluctuates between profit and loss, despite the market remaining below my sell-short position. Can you explain why this is? Many thanks.
How do u withdraw money from a trading 212 investing account
So you can’t do short selling on invest mode ?
Why can you not trade forex in the 212 isa account?
Shout-out to everyone he to short Target stocks
You’re borrowing the stock to then sell it, you’re not buying it, but how many knew that trading markets or platforms allowed you to sell something you don’t own? So glad I found this video because I had no idea about this!
Can You make a slow video how to do with trading 212 app go short for retired people , showing the button where to press to activate ?
Didn’t have a clue about short selling until watching this and didn’t know that trading platforms allowed you to borrow whatever it is. What’s the minimum requirements for opening an account with Trading 212?
Is there a limit for how long you can wait for the price to go below what you sold it for?
A jump from 100p to 150p is an increase of 50% – there’s no guarantee of such a margin and even then it’s not certain that someone will buy at the increased value. Same thing if you’re selling short, it’s not certain someone will buy at that price immediately.
Sorry to carry on, but… So using CFD you can buy/sell whatever it is but you don’t ever actually own any shares, commodities, etc, because CFDs are a derivative?
But you’ve sold what you don’t own; you’ve borrowed it, right? Are you saying that financial markets don’t require you to pay back what you borrowed??
Greta Vid
damn this video helped me so much thank you!
but then you own a thousand shares of a falling stock?