According to the fact that futures are centralized and standardized transactions of standardized contracts, positions are quantitative indicators of the strength of both long and short sides.
Before the expiration of physical delivery or cash delivery, investors can voluntarily decide to buy and sell futures contracts according to market conditions and personal wishes. However, investors (bulls or bears) hold futures contracts, and do not carry out reverse operations (selling or buying) with the same delivery month and quantity. This operation is called holding positions.