- Position
- A market commitment; the number of contracts bought or sold for which no offsetting transaction has been entered into. The buyer of a commodity is said to have a long position and the seller of a commodity is said to have a short position . Related: open contracts
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1. the situation that a person or organization is in, or the situation concerning a particular subject:• The company is in a strong financial position , with more than $7 million in cash and no short-term debt.
• The investment would weaken the company's competitive position.
• The new legislation puts the unions in a difficult position.
ˈcash poˌsition ACCOUNTINGthe amount of cash that a company has available at a particular time:• The company's cash position from trading activities appears to be healthy.
2. be in a position to do something to be able to do something because you have the ability, money, or power to do it:• We will refund your money when we are in a position to do so.
3. jockey/manoeuvre/jostle for position to try to get an advantage over other people who are all trying to succeed in the same activity:• US advertising agencies are jostling for position in Eastern Europe.
4. the level or rank someone or something has in society or in an organization:cash position in• He was a doctor with a respectable position in society.
• We need more women in positions of authority and influence in television.
• Financial institutions are in a unique position of trust when handling funds belonging to the public.
• He did not want to be accused of abusing his position (= using his authority wrongly ) .
cash position as• She is retiring from her position as chief executive.
• Twelve people applied for the position (= asked to have the job ) .
• He is filling a position (= taking a job ) that has been vacant since July.
• He has been offered a management position in Cairo.
• He is older than most executives in their first senior position (= important job ) abroad.
6. someone's opinion or judgement on something:cash position on• What's your position on using freelance staff?
7. FINANCE an investment in something, or the amount invested:• The family has a recent history of buying positions of over 5% in public companies.
• It said it will take a 10% equity position (= buy 10% of the shares ) in the company.
• After we have earned a modest profit, we will simply cash our position out (= sell our investment ) .
ˌlong poˈsition also ˈbull poˌsition FINANCEwhen you possess particular bonds, shares, currencies, etc, believing that their value will rise:• To hold a long position in silver futures is, in effect, to bet that silver prices will rise.
ˌshort poˈsition also ˈbear poˌsition FINANCEa situation in which someone sells shares that they have borrowed and not paid for, believing the price will fall and they can profit from the difference between the price at which they are selling the shares and the price they will pay for them:• They built up a short position of five contracts in the Japanese yen, anticipating a decline relative to the dollar.
• He sold the stock for more than $23 a share, and then bought back the shares at $21 to cover his short position (= to be able to deliver the shares that he had sold but did not own ) .
1. if you position yourself in a particular way, or if something positions you in that way, you are prepared for a situation that you want to happen or think is going to happen:• It has been working to position itself as a seller of group health insurance to major corporations.
• The company's restructuring has positioned it to compete more effectively.
2. MARKETING if a company positions a product in a particular way, it tries to get people to think about it in that way in relation to the company's other products and to competing products:• The trend over the past decade has been to position pizza as a health food.
• We're trying to position the product toward younger buyers.
— positioned adjective :• The company is well positioned in the marketplace.
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The balance of purchases and sales in a given financial instrument for a given maturity.* * *
Ⅰ.position UK US /pəˈzɪʃən/ noun [C]► HR, WORKPLACE a job, especially one that is important: advertise/fill a position »We hope to fill the position within the next two months.
apply for/take up/fill a position »She will soon take up an important position with a firm of lawyers.
»He filled the position of Executive Director recently vacated by Terry John.
► a rank or level of success in a company, in society, etc.: establish/gain/hold a position »He took advantage of every opportunity to establish his position within the company.
strengthen sb's position »Industry insiders said the move would strengthen the position of the chief executive on the board.
► a situation that someone or something is in: »The bank's position looks difficult, to say the least.
put sb/sth in a position »This decision put me in an awkward position with regard to my staff.
»They were not willing to release details of the company's financial position.
be in a strong/weak position »Luckily, we were in a strong position compared to the competition.
reach a/the position »We want to reach a position where we can pay off the debt.
consolidate/strengthen/weaken sb's position »This news will serve to consolidate our position in the market.
► an opinion on an important subject: position on sth »What's the company's position on outsourcing?
take the position that »The Board will certainly take the position that their decision was justified.
take a position (on sth) »When you are negotiating, you will need to take a position and be prepared to stick to it.
► FINANCE the fact of investing in something, or the total amount that is invested: take a position (on sth) »Investors can take a position on any stock quoted in London.
hedge a position »The riskier the stock, the more you will need to hedge your position.
→ See also BEAR POSITION(Cf. ↑bear position), BULL POSITION(Cf. ↑bull position), CASH POSITION(Cf. ↑cash position), ISLAND POSITION(Cf. ↑island position), LONG POSITION(Cf. ↑long position), OPEN POSITION(Cf. ↑open position), SHORT POSITION(Cf. ↑short position), SPECIAL POSITION(Cf. ↑special position)Ⅱ.position UK US /pəˈzɪʃən/ verb [T]► to put something or someone in a particular position or situation: »The company has positioned itself as the country's leading textile manufacturer.
be well/ideally positioned to do sth »We are well positioned to be able to deal with a downturn in the economy.
► MARKETING to advertise a product or service so that people think about it in a particular way, and so that it is attractive to a particular part of the market: position sth as sth »Its high-end price ticket has positioned it as a luxury item.
Financial and business terms. 2012.
