Long

A Long position is when a trader or investor buys a position in the market. These positions benefit when the market moves up and lose money when the market moves down.

If a trader "goes long" then it means that he/she has bought a position in the market.

Short

A Short position is when a trader or investor sells a position in the market. These positions make money when the market moves down and lose money when the market moves up.

If a trader "goes short" then it means that he/she has sold a position in the market.

Target

The Target is the price at which a trader wants to exit a position.

This price does not necessarily translate into a profit for the trader.

This will happen if the position is currently negative and the trader is trying to exit at a more favorable price but not at a profit.

Targets are often entered into a trading system and by implication into the exchange's computers by using a limit order. Limit Orders are placed in a queue and are executed on a first come first served basis. For this reason, the earlier that a Target is placed, the further forward in the queue it will be and the more likely that it will be executed if the market trades at that price.