The Strategy of Hedging on the Forex

What is the strategy of Hedging on the Forex?

As we have just noted in the introduction, the strategy of Hedging on the Forex is not aimed directly at making profits by taking position on a currency pair, but rather at taking certain positions for covering others.

The use of this method offers the advantage of being both simple and rapid and therefore accessible to all traders. To summarise, once you have taken position on a currency pair that you wish to cover in case of a drop in its rate, you take an inverse position over the short term for the same amount as that of your first position. Thereby, if a drop occurs in the rate of your main pair, you will have the possibility of recovering part of the points lost due to your inversed position.

However, the Hedging strategy can go much further as you can use it simultaneously on several pairs. As an example, imagine that you take position on the USD/JPY on the rise. You can then use an asset that is inversely correlated to the dollar to cover this first position. Oil or gold would be an example of a good choice in this situation for Hedging.

Using Hedging strategies to protect your capital

Using Hedging strategies, means opening two inverse positions on a given security of the same amount, you will reduce the risk. In fact, it does not really matter the trend or the observed volatility, since your balance will remain stable no matter what.

You must be asking yourself what is the real advantage of Hedging in this case. This strategy should be used preferably when we want to protect the profit already made on a position, but we have doubts about the evolution of the course of the asset on the short term.

It is therefore enough to wait for the beginning of a reliable trend to resell the position that has become obsolete and thus be able to keep the position that is moving in the right direction open.

Using Hedging strategies to take advantage of corrective movements:

Corrective movements are relatively common in the world of online stock investment. It is therefore interesting to take advantage of them by using a strategy that combines long positions and short positions such as Hedging.

In this case, just take a long position on an asset, and give a reverse position order on the course that you think could have a possible technical correction, and therefore will be less than your goal in the long run. This way, if the course of the asset that you are following turns into a corrective trend before your goal, you will be able to make profits on your short term position while maintaining your long-term position.

This method is particularly interesting, but it requires that you know precisely how to identify the levels likely to have a reversal on its trend thanks to pivot points, support and resistances.

The strategy of hedging on long and short positions:

If you use the strategy of hedging to trade on the stock market through CFDs or future type contracts, you will always do so to protect your positions by taking two opposite positions. But it is essential to also look at your investment goal for which you opted in your initial position. Depending on the case, we can use a “short hedging” or a “long hedging” strategy depending if it is short or long.

The short hedging will be used by investors with active positions that they have to sell on the market. In this case, the new purchase position will be used to maintain its presence on the market in case the movement continues while pocketing the profits generated by the previous short position.

Long hedging will be used by investors who are not yet positioned on the market and wish to take a long-term position. It will be therefore protected while waiting for the most opportune moment to take a long-term position to buy and to sale.

Summary of the various advantages of a hedging strategy:

To assist you in deciding if you are going to implement a hedging strategy on your future positions or not here is a complete summary of the different advantages of this strategy:

• Firstly, we can of course underline the fact that hedging enables you to considerably reduce your exposure to the financial markets.
• This strategy also enables you to take certain positions that you couldn’t take with a classic speculative strategy.
• The fact that the beginning of a new trend is implemented even before the first confirmation signals are visible on the charts is also an argument in favour of using a hedging strategy.
• For investors with strong risk aversion, the hedging strategy remains one of the most appreciated because it allows them to manage their positions more serenely and without taking too much risk. This strategy will also be suitable for traders who are most subject to stress and will avoid hasty and unfounded decisions.
• Finally, the last advantage of a hedging strategy concerns the fact that it can be undertaken on most trading platforms of approved market brokers.

The disadvantages of a hedging strategy:

Now that you know the major advantages of a hedging strategy let us examine the major disadvantages and weak points, here is a detailed list:      

• Firstly, the primary disadvantage of this type of strategy relates to the fact that although the majority of brokers enable this strategy, others do not. It is therefore important to choose a broker that offers this option.   
• Although a hedging strategy is relatively sure and presents little in the way of risk it can still however lead to a loss, notably due to the cost of transactions or spreads charged which can at times be higher than the profits actually made.
• Finally, the last notable disadvantage concerning a hedging strategy relates this time to the fact that the profits generated when a market moves in the direction of your general position will of course be less which could lessen its attraction for investors seeking rapid profits.    

Generally speaking and in regard to the different advantages and disadvantages of a hedging strategy we can conclude by stating that this is of course not a miracle strategy that will guarantee profits with online trading but it still remains a guarantee of limiting potential losses in case of a negative fluctuation in the rate of the underlying asset upon which you have based your investment. It is best here therefore to evaluate the necessity of using this strategy in accordance with the risk estimated on your long term position or to choose a partial or complete hedging strategy depending on the individual case. Finally, it should again be noted that the choice of implementing such a strategy depends greatly on your risk aversion. It is therefore up to you to decide based on your preferences and objectives.