The Ultimate Investment Portfolio Hedging Strategy
The first page of search engine research tells you that: “Investors use hedging strategies when they are unsure of what the market will do”— isn’t that always the case? Further along you learn that there are many different kinds of strategies, nearly all of which rely upon some sort of derivative betting mechanism.
But what is hedging all about in the first place?
Conspiracy theorists have their hands in the air. What’s that? Portfolio hedging strategies were created to expand the market for the first generation of derivative products— options and futures contracts. Hmmm, not so far fetched an idea, really. Just back up a bit and think about what they are trying to accomplish.
Hedges are designed to massage your market value numbers, a kind of security blanket that softens the highs and lows of the market cycle. But why focus on the fluff of transient market values in the first place? Cycles even