Long, short & Auto reversal

The three ways a strategy can trade direction — and what each one costs.

A strategy can profit from prices going up (long), going down (short), or switch sides automatically as signals flip (Auto reversal). Which one fits depends on the idea you're testing — and each has an honest caveat.

Long

Buy on the entry signal, sell on the exit. The default everywhere: chart signals, presets, the Wizard, and the DSL's long_when. If you only ever test long, remember the market you picked may simply have gone up — the Reality check compares against buy & hold for exactly this reason.

Short

Sell first on the entry signal, buy back on the exit — profiting when price falls. On the chart, flip the direction toggle to Short (entry and exit conditions swap roles under the hood); in the DSL, use short_when.

Auto reversal

One position that follows the signal's side: long on bullish legs, short on bearish ones. When the opposite signal fires while you're in a trade, you choose what happens:

1. Close & wait (default) — close to flat and wait for the next signal. Conservative: fewer trades, fewer fees.
2. Reverse now — stop-and-reverse: close and open the opposite side on the same bar. Always in the market: more trades, more fees.

Reading a two-sided result

The result page's Performance section splits metrics by All / Long / Short, so you can see whether one side carried the whole return. A reversal strategy that only made money on longs during an uptrend isn't a two-sided edge — it's a long strategy with extra fees.