I pulled the first paragraph from Investopedia's article titled "20 Rules Followed by Professional Traders". Long-term profitability requires two related skill sets. The first is to identify a set of strategies that make more money than they lose and then to use the strategies as part of a trading plan. Second, the strategies must perform well while the market experiences both bull and bear impulses. In other words, while many traders know how to make money in specific markets, like a strong uptrend, they fail in the long run because their strategies don't adapt to inevitable changes in market conditions. Imagine playing a Poker game where the Dealer removes half the cards from the Deck. A football game without a running game, where the Quarterback only throws the ball every play. How about a basketball game where no player ever takes a 3 point shot. Sounds like a winning strategy? I trade fulltime and would never only trade one direction. It makes absolutely no sense to me, not to mention I'd be leaving 2/3 of my profits on the table. The Youtube weekend warriors are not aware the winning minority in the markets ALWAYS trade both directions. I've read hundreds of trading books, and all of them achieved and MAINTAINED success by understanding and practicing this basic concept.
I trade long only. It's what I do. It's what I know and what I make money doing. When I don't have a market that will give me a long trade, I sit on the sidelines. My objective is to make money, not to keep busy. I'm envious of those who trade both ways.
Long, short -same thing. If you are having a problem, invert your charts and see the setups upside down. If a market is directional...participate.
This is true for currencies, but not (exactly) for equity indexes. They behave ever-so-slightly differently going the other way.
For example, inverse SPY over the last little while VS a real bull market Notice in particular how little time the inverted SPY chart spends at the highs.... As I said, ever-so-slightly.
You can always long the inverse ETFs (e.g., SQQQ) and UVXY on a down trend day if you prefer to long only. There’s really no difference between long and short. It’s the mindset.
If you are trading individual stocks that's not true. A short can gap up more than double the price you sold. A long can only go to zero.
Likewise, a long can gap down too. Admittedly, shorting inherently bears more risk so you have to be very careful.