Been trading for a while now but still confused about this term.
Keep seeing “sell to close” when I look at my open positions. I get what buying and selling means but not sure what the “to close” part is about.
Does this just mean closing out my current trade? Want to make sure I understand before I mess something up.
Selling to close means you are exiting your open trade. When you first opened your position, you bought. Now, selling to close ends that trade. Different platforms phrase it differently, but the concept is the same. Some may say just ‘close,’ while others specify ‘sell to close’ or ‘buy to close’ based on your original action. It’s a straightforward term that just clarifies that you’re finishing the current trade, not starting a new one.
That confusion hit me hard during my second month trading. I had a winning gold position and panicked when I saw “sell to close” thinking it meant shorting.
Almost clicked the wrong button and would have opened a completely opposite trade. Good thing I hesitated because that original position ended up being my biggest win that week.
The “to close” part just means ending your current trade, nothing fancy.
When opening a position, you make a buy or sell action. The “to close” means you are taking the opposite action to exit that trade.
If you bought in, selling it closes that position. The platform clarifies that you are ending the current trade, not starting another.
Mobile platforms usually show this clearly, so no worries about mistakenly opening new trades when just wanting to close.
Correct. ‘Sell to close’ exits your long position and realizes profit/loss. Platform terminology prevents accidental position doubling.
It just closes your current trade. I made that mistake once.