Long and Short
With options markets, as with futures markets, long and short refer to the buying and selling of one or more contracts, but unlike futures markets, they do not refer to the direction of the trade. For example, if a futures trade is entered by buying a contract, the trade is a long trade, and the trader wants the price to go up, but with options, a trade can be entered by buying a Put contract, and is still a long trade, even though the trader wants the price to go down. The following chart may help explain this further:
Futures
Entry type: Buy
Direction: Up
Trade type: Long
Entry type: Sell
Direction: Down
Trade type: Short
Options
Entry type: Call
Direction: Up
Trade type: Long
Entry type: Put
Direction: Down
Trade type: Long
The important point is that an options trade that is entered by buying either a Call or a Put, is a long trade, regardless of which direction the trader wants the price to move (up for a Call, and down for a Put).
With options markets, as with futures markets, long and short refer to the buying and selling of one or more contracts, but unlike futures markets, they do not refer to the direction of the trade. For example, if a futures trade is entered by buying a contract, the trade is a long trade, and the trader wants the price to go up, but with options, a trade can be entered by buying a Put contract, and is still a long trade, even though the trader wants the price to go down. The following chart may help explain this further:
Futures
Entry type: Buy
Direction: Up
Trade type: Long
Entry type: Sell
Direction: Down
Trade type: Short
Options
Entry type: Call
Direction: Up
Trade type: Long
Entry type: Put
Direction: Down
Trade type: Long
The important point is that an options trade that is entered by buying either a Call or a Put, is a long trade, regardless of which direction the trader wants the price to move (up for a Call, and down for a Put).