"Short" or "Short Position" in a stock means that the investor has either sold the borrowed shares (usually borrowed from a stock broker) with the intention of repurchasing the shares back later at a lower price, returning the shares to the broker, and thereby "closing out" the short position. Any portfolio can be described as being either a short or long position with respect to the securities. An investor will short a stock when the investor believes that the stock will go down in price in the future. Such transactions are often considered risky because the stock may go up in price and the investor may have to pay much more to repurchase the stock than the investor received when the investor initially borrowed and sold the stock.