Mutually Exclusive Investment

Mutually Exclusive Investment

An investment that prevents one from making a different investment. Some investments are mutually exclusive by nature; for example, taking a long position in a stock precludes taking a short position in the same stock at the same time. Others are mutually exclusive circumstantially; for example, if one only has so much money to invest and buys stocks A, B, and C, there may not be enough left over to buy stock D. See also: Opportunity cost.