Sell definition
Sell
Sell is one of two options traders have when opening a trade. When you open a trade by selling, you are speculating that the price of the security will drop. You close a sell trade by selling back the asset for the lower price, securing a profit.
Opting to open a position by a sell is also known as taking a short position or shorting. Conversely, when you take a long position you are ‘buying the market’.
Short trade example
Say you expect the euro to weaken against the dollar. You would then sell the EUR/USD and open a short position. To close the trade, you buy back the Euros with the US dollars you received when opening your position.
If the Euro has weakened against the dollar as hoped for, you will receive more Euros than you originally sold, or shorted.
If the trade has moved against you and the euro has risen against the dollar, you will, unfortunately, receive fewer euros than you began the trade with.