August 18, 2020
August 18, 2020
Hedging Forex: how to hedge Forex trades?Mikhail Hypov
Dear friends! Today I will deal with Forex hedging. Hedging in forex trading is first of all an instrument to reduce or remove the risks associated with making financial transactions. Besides, some traders managed to transform the idea of hedging forex trades and turn it into a profitable Forex trading strategy.
Unfortunately, many traders do not realize all benefits of hedging, after simple tactics of capital protection fail. So, I want to explain in simple terms forex hedging strategies so that you can see all the advantages of protecting your deposit before you suffer from significant losses.
The article covers the following subjects:
![LiteForex: Hedging in Forex: forex hedging strategies][1]
Most commonly, this term is used as hedging against the risks in trading and it may seem to be similar to the risk diversification in Forex. However, these are different concepts, they have the same goal, but the ways to achieve them are different. Risk hedging implies protection against the risk of future price fluctuations arranged in advance. This tactic allows insurance against unwanted exposure to the risks that resulted from trading in the Forex market and other financial transactions.
The closest in meaning to the word “hedging” is the concept of insurance. Hedging is used in almost all types of financial businesses, but in the foreign exchange market, it has a more specific form.
** Hedging Forex is a strategy used to protect from losing trades resulting from an adverse move of a currency pair.**
To hedge against the currency risks, traders often use the so-called correlated currency pairs, they are moving in sync, in the same direction. In addition to positively correlated pairs, there can be used currency pairs with negative correlation, they are also moving symmetrically, but in opposite directions. In this case, a trader opens two long or two short positions. You can learn more about currency pairs’ correlation [here][2].
Hedging involves opening a long position and a short position with the same risk size. The positions can be opened on the same currency pair or two or more trading assets. If a trader selects two currency pairs, they should be positively correlated.
** Note on the terminology:**
Long position (a long) is a buy position;
Short position (a short) is a sell position.
Another forex hedging strategy involves opening two long positions on two currency pairs that are negatively correlated.
For example,[][3][EURUSD][3] and[][4][USDCHF][4] have a strong negative correlation. It means when the first pair is rising the second one faces a drop by a related number of points. The Forex hedging strategy, in this case, will look like this:
However, an equal volume of trades is required only in case of perfect or full hedging. There is also a partial forex hedging strategy as a way to protect your position from some of the risks. You can open partial hedging positions when there are strong signals of a particular trading scenario. I will cover the hedging strategies in detail below.
For example, if you are sure that the EUR/USD market will be rising then opening the USDCHF of a smaller size will increase your profit compared to the full hedge. However, in the case of a negative scenario, you will compensate for only a part of losses.
Hedging is all about reducing your risk, to protect against unwanted price moves. Hedging suggests opening a position that will reduce the total loss in a negative scenario.
For example, when you buy the GBP/USD and USD/CHF[][7][currency pairs][7] at the same time, as they are negatively correlated. If one pair starts moving in the unwanted direction, another one will be yielding a profit compensating for the loss yielded by the first one. There various strategies of how to hedge in forex:
The last two forex hedging strategies can be also referred to as locking in. You can learn more about why traders use locks and what you should do if you get a lock in the article that explains[everything about locks in trading][8].
There are several types of hedging in forex:
If you want the profit to exceed the loss using hedging, you should trade highly volatile Forex instruments, entering intraday trades.
Besides, all hedging strategies observe the major risk management rule. One trade should not bear a risk of more than 5% of the deposit. You should not invest more than 10% of the deposit in the assets with a positive correlation.
Each trading terminal has an automated take profit function, but it also has a stop loss. A stop-loss is an offsetting order that gets you out of a trade if the price moves against you by an amount you specify. Beginners do not like using a stop loss as they hope to gain back the loss.
The major error of a beginner trader is to hold a losing trade and wait until the price reverses and turns a losing trade into a winning one.
That is why before you buy an asset, you need to analyze the market sentiment and define the maximum drawdown level. If the risk exceeds the amount required by the risk management rule, you’d better not enter a trade.
If the market situation seems favourable, but the potential risk doesn’t allow you to enter a trade with a full lot, you can reduce the position size. Different Forex trading strategies suggest different ratios of a take profit versus a stop loss, but the potential profit should always be bigger than the loss. Besides, you should take into account the spread, the difference between the buy and sell prices.
If you want your forex hedging tactics to be a system, you need to observe just two rules:
It will allow you to solve another problem of beginner traders, low level of discipline. If you set a level without proper analysis and face a loss, you will analyze the market situation more thoroughly next time.
Let us study an example of hedging in forex , based on classical hedging technique, using one currency pair [EURUSD][5].
![LiteForex: Hedging in Forex: forex hedging strategies][9]
Let us assume the situation that the EURUSD has been trading in a bullish trend for a long time. We expect the trend reversal down, and we expect a reversal signal delivered by candlestick patterns.
There are two consecutive down bars in the chart (marked with the blue oval in the above chart) as a confirmation of the shooting star pattern (a bearish candlestick with a long upper shadow and a small lower shadow or no shadow at all). So, we enter a short trade of 1 lot at the level of the red horizontal line, around 1.13:
![LiteForex: Hedging in Forex: forex hedging strategies][10]
Next, holding a sell position, we see that there is a sideways move instead of a steady bear trend. When there are two up candlesticks with full bodies, which almost engulf the entire bear move, there is a strong risk that the [EURUSD][5] pair will go up and the uptrend will continue (I highlighted the situation with the second blue oval on the right):
![LiteForex: Hedging in Forex: forex hedging strategies][11]
To reduce this risk, we enter a position, opposite the first one, of the same volume, 1 lot. In the above chart, the buy price on the EURUSD is marked with the green line, it is at about 1.134.
![LiteForex: Hedging in Forex: forex hedging strategies][12]
Thus, two trades will overlap each other and protect our deposit. We fix the level of a potential loss of 400 points (the spread between opening short and long positions) under the conditions of strong uncertainty.
Now we can safely track the market without fear of significant losses. If the price nevertheless goes down, we will close the long position and take the profit from the short one. If there is a signal of the bull trend continuation, we shall exit the short position, and a long one will start yielding a profit.
Let us study another example of full hedging forex trades. This time, we will additionally calculate the potential loss and profit resulting from the exiting the hedge.
![LiteForex: Hedging in Forex: forex hedging strategies][13]
In the situation, marked with the blue oval in the above chart, we decided that the price should go up soon. So, once the bar closes, we open a long position at 1.08578 (green line).
![LiteForex: Hedging in Forex: forex hedging strategies][14]
However, the price continues going down and breaks through the support level at 1.08180 marked with the red horizontal line. There is quite a strong signal of the bear trend continuation. To protect our capital against losses, we shall apply forex hedging. To insure against big losses, we will open the opposite position of the same volume at the level of 1.08166 after the down candlestick closes.
Thus, the difference between these two opposite positions is only 0.00412 points. This is the amount of loss that we have limited due to forex hedging.
![LiteForex: Hedging in Forex: forex hedging strategies][15]
The chart above shows that the full hedging of forex positions was appropriate. This forex strategy allowed us to safely wait while the market was moving in an unwanted direction. The bull trend resumes after a while.
When the price has consolidated sufficiently above the initial position at 1.08852 (black line in the chart) we exit the short trade, thereby fixing 0.00686 points of losses resulted from the short position (the short entry level- short exit level). However, the trade itself has not yet been completed, since we still have a long position, opened at 1.08578.
![LiteForex: Hedging in Forex: forex hedging strategies][16]
As you see from the chart, there is a strong bullish momentum next. We are following the bull trend and exit the buy position when there emerges a shooting star reversal pattern and two confirming red candlesticks down (highlighted with purple in the chart). We close the position at level 1.09484, marked with the purple line.
Thus, the net profit yielded by the long without taking into account commissions amounted to 0.00906 points (1.09484 - 1.08578), and the total profit from the whole trade - 0.00220 points (0.00906 - 0.00686). As you can see, the total profit was much reduced because of hedging. However, we are fully insured against the risk of loss that could result from a negative scenario.
Well, we have already studied the example of Forex hedging. Now, let us see what ways of capital protection exist and what peculiarities they have. First, let me describe the parameters according to which the methods of hedging are classified:
According to the type of the hedging instrument, there are foreign exchange forex hedging and over-the-counter hedging. Forex hedge trades are entered, as the definition implies, on the foreign exchange with the participation of a counterparty, which in the case of Forex, is the brokerage company. Over the counter hedge positions can not be opened on an asset exchange. They are not traded in the market and usually conducted once.
There can be full or partial Forex hedging. Full hedging insures against risks for the whole sum of the deal. Partial hedging implies the insurance only of a part of the deal. Partial hedging is used if there are minor risks.
Depending on whether you bet on the price rise or fall, you put a buyer hedge or a seller hedge. In the first case, capital is insured against a possible increase in prices, and the second - a decrease.
Forex hedging can be pure or cross. A pure hedge involves an opposite transaction for the same trading asset. In the case of cross hedging, the hedge position is opened for a different asset. In this case, the second asset should correlate with the underlying asset, that is, its price should depend on the price of the underlying asset.
For example, when the price of the underlying asset is moving up, the value of the asset that we used for the hedge should also be moving up or down on a relative scale.
According to this parameter, a forex hedging strategy can be classical or anticipatory. In the first case, the opposite position is opened immediately after the main (insured) one. An example of a classical hedge is buying an option covering the main trade. The second strategy implies putting a hedge long before the insured position is opened, as it happens in the case of buying futures.
Depending on the above characteristics, the following strategies are distinguished:
It involves opening a position of the same volume as the first one but in the opposite direction to buy or sell the same asset. Thus, you fully protect the deposit invested in the first trade from the risks of price movement in an unwanted direction.
With low potential risks of price movement in an unfavourable direction, it is possible to ensure the main transaction only partially. In this case, the potential profit increases, and at the same time, the hedging costs are reduced. However, if you underestimate the risks, you may face unforeseen losses.
It involves the purchase of a futures contract at a fixed price with the expectation that the asset will be sold at an optimal price in the future
This method involves opening a position on an asset different from that of the main trade. As I already have written before, an example of a cross hedge is opening long positions on EURUSD and USDCHF.
It is a rather complicated Forex hedging strategy that is recommended only for experienced traders. It involves opening positions in the underlying asset market and the derivatives (insurance) market. The positions will differ both in time and size. The flexibility of the strategy allows you to choose the best proportions, achieving the optimal ratio of the potential profits to existing trading risks.
For you to understand it better, let us study an example. Suppose you buy 1,000 shares at the beginning of the year and plan to sell them at a higher price in the third quarter. In the second quarter, you put an option to sell 1,500 shares. At the same time, the calculations made allow you to expect with a high degree of probability to make profits from both positions closed at different times.
It involves heading the position on the assets of one sector by a position on the asset of another sector. For example, you can hedge against an unwanted market move in the EURUSD market by CFDs on energy resources.
** Most of the covered forex hedging strategies are employed by hedge traders (traders, who protect their assets by hedging trades) or forex hedge funds. They combine different hedging instruments or even hedging forex strategies. I will cover in detail some of such systems, namely, the hedged grid forex systems, Forex grid and Forex Double Grid Strategy, in one of my[ next educational articles.][17]**
Now is the time to summarize the above information and briefly talk about the main pros and cons of hedging.
There are a lot of advantages in employing forex hedging, that is why forex hedging strategies are so popular.
Let us study all pros of using hedging strategies in Forex trading
1. Universal applicability of hedging.
Due to a wide range of forex hedging strategies and hedging instruments, hedging can be applied in any market, for any trading instrument and by traders of any level of skills. It is used by individual traders, global investment funds and it can be even an element of economic policies of a whole country.
By the way, common people often use hedging as a strategy, when they, for example, invest in gold or foreign currency to insure against the risks of the local currency depreciation. Another example, on a global scale, is the target program for the development of tourism in the United Arab Emirates, in order to diversify sources of income and reduce dependence on hydrocarbon exports. The state sells “Oil” and buys “Tourism”
This point is a logical extension of the first one. The flexibility of hedging results from the logical simplicity of the approach and, at the same time, the widest range of tools that make the hedging process almost universal and applicable to any transaction. Due to such a wide range of hedging tools, forex hedging is subdivided into so many types.
It is a kind of mantra for any investor. Risk diversification can be considered as an example of selective and cross hedging. This definition can be described by the proverb “Do not put all eggs into the same basket!”.
The logic of this statement is quite simple and clear. However, in the financial world, it is not so easy to follow this rule.
Principles of hedging facilitate achieving the facilitation goals for an investor, defining the two major rules: it is the segmentation of assets and the correlation of asset prices in the portfolio.
Segmentation means that the assets in the portfolio should belong to different markets, industries, and forms of ownership. For example, a portfolio that includes only cryptocurrencies is less diversified than a portfolio that also includes other assets, for example, shares or bonds.
I think the logic here is clear. The correlation between the asset price is covered in this article and many others in the [LiteForex trader blog][18]. I don’t think I can add anything here.
make profits.
The primary goal of hedging forex is insurance against risks. In this regard, hedging is often opposed to using a stop loss, which is a big mistake. One could easily describe the principle of hedging as “All that is not lost is earned.” However, speaking of hedging as a strategy for active trading, the concept of profit takes on a more significant meaning.
Grid trading strategies, for example, give good opportunities to make good profits with almost no risks. I will cover these strategies in my next article. Employing this Forex trading strategy, you can make profits even if there is no clear trend.
Another element of hedging, which is already actively used by institutional investors to make money, is Carry trades. A carry trade is a low-interest loan in one currency and opening deposits with higher yields in another. There are also such derivatives as futures and options, whose primary role is risk hedging. However, these instruments are now more popular for speculators in active trading, rather than in hedging.
Understanding the principles of hedging and the ability to correctly employ hedging strategies are especially important during crises and economic turmoil. Many trading companies, financial institutions, and even central banks of various countries have their own hedging strategies in order to ensure stable operation in times of high market turbulence.
You may not even think about it, but you always hear or read about hedging in the media. Instead of an uncommon word hedging, they often use such expressions as “risk aversion”, “safe haven”, “burning money”, and so on. Whenever we hear in the news that some large investment funds have sold stocks and switched to gold and government bonds, we understand that they are simply hedging risks. We, individual traders, can also use hedging strategies in Forex trading.
Now, let us have a look at the drawbacks of Forex hedging, they are not that numerous, but still, there are som
It is a big mistake to believe that hedging is the same as a stop loss. Unfortunately, many beginner traders think so and lose their deposits as a result. You should realize that hedging doesn’t guarantee the security of your funds.
Neither it guarantees you will make profits. Hedging is just an approach to reduce the risks, but not to fully eliminate them
Hedging can require quite a large amount of spare funds. This is especially acute for full hedging when you need to double your investments to open the second position to hedge the first one entirely.
Most commonly, other alternative investments would yield more profits than just being pledged against open transactions in order to avoid losses
If you actively apply hedging in your trading, you may have a false feeling that your positions can never yield a loss and your funds are entirely secure. Such a trader uses locking too much, increases the risks, and uses very high leverage.
Such a trader may not use stop losses, as he/she mistakenly thinks that they do not need to stop losses as they can simply lock a losing trade up and wait until the price reverses in a needed direction. However, everything is not that simple in reality. You can learn more about locks in the forex [here][8].
Hedging usually involves extra costs. When opening a position to hedge against the risks, you have to pay commission fees. In the case of the Forex trading, there can be extra costs that result from the spread and the commission for roll-over. Beginner traders usually do not consider these costs when building their trading systems based on forex hedging strategies.
I mean the high requirements for analytical skills and trading experience of a trader or an investor, who wants to use hedging in their individual trading strategies. Although the logic is simple, it is not easy to apply in real trading. Hedging is a rather serious subject for study, which is primarily associated with a wide range of different hedging instruments and methods of hedging.
A newbie should spend much time and effort in studying theory. Furthermore, the theory is nothing without practice. Experiments with hedging forex strategies may often result in losses.
So, the experience will also cost some money. Those, who are not willing to spend time, effort, and money, may not satisfy the requirements.
Hedging against foreign exchange risk or Forex hedging is one of the most common ways to protect funds from currency fluctuations in business. One can hedge against negative price changes of foreign currencies by conducting instant transactions at a fixed exchange rate.
There are three basic types of foreign exchange risks:
Transaction risk , also known as conversion risk is the risk to receive a smaller profit or even a loss resulting from export operations due to negative changes in the exchange rate of the currencies used. It can be reduced by restricting exports, determining the optimal price level for exporters and importers and securities in which they are expressed, by narrowing the time range for receipt and payment of funds, using the currency of receipts to cover costs.
In Forex trading, the insurance against the Forex risks means entering two trades in opposite directions, which provides a chance of getting both a loss and a profit.
Translation risk (settlement or balance sheet risk). It is based on the discrepancy between profit and loss denominated in the currencies of different countries. For example, a US international company has a subsidiary in Germany.
Consequently, part of its assets is denominated in euros. If it does not have liabilities comparable to US assets, then the euro-denominated assets are exposed to currency risks. The depreciation of the euro will cause a decrease in the earning value of the parent company, which is expressed in US dollars.
Likewise, a significant excess of liabilities over assets will create even greater risks if the euro price rises versus the US dollar. Therefore, the only way to protect the company’s funds from settlement risks is to maintain a balance between assets and liabilities.
Economic risk refers to a negative impact of unfavourable currency fluctuations on any aspects related to the company’s activities: commodity circulation, production, demand, production cost, competition, etc. As a result, the company’s market value will decline, as well as its economic performance. Least of all economic risks affect companies that bear costs solely in the local currency.
Hidden risk. It may refer to any of the above. The only difference is that it is not taken into account in the company’s economic and financial policy, that is why it is hidden. For example, one or several suppliers of a company can use imported resources in production, and the price of supplied components can rise sharply as a result of Forex volatility.
A simple forex hedging strategy suggests opening a position of the same size opposite to the already opened one. It is used when the first position becomes losing, and the opposite trade yields a 100% profit respectively.
Futures contracts. A futures contract is a legal agreement to buy or sell a particular commodity asset, or security at a predetermined price at a specified time in the future. Hedging risks in the futures market provides full insurance of funds invested in the production
Futures are used to hedge a position in two ways. Hedging by buying futures (it insures against the appreciation in the future). Hedging by selling futures, it helps investors hedge devaluations.
Forward contracts. A forward contract is a non-standardized contract for the delivery of an asset at a fixed price in the future. These contracts do not apply to exchange-traded instruments
Options. Options are widely used in commodity and stock markets. Options are financial derivatives that give the right to buy or sell the underlying asset at a stated price within a specified period.
Swaps. A swap is a transaction through which two parties exchange the cash flows or liabilities from two different financial instruments. Forex broker swaps are an example of how a company hedges against currency risks resulting from forex volatility.
The above hedging instruments, according to the aspects of their application, come into two groups:
Exchange-traded products feature high liquidity, low credit risks, and the clearinghouse guarantees that the other side of any transaction performs to its obligations. However, the type of underlying assets, terms, and conditions of delivery are strictly standardized.
Over-the-counter products (OTC), on the contrary, allows the investor to put forward the most convenient requirements for the type of assets and terms of the transaction, however, they are difficult to find a counterparty, and feature high credit risks and low liquidity.
How to trade forex like a hedge fund?
To answer this question let us see how to trade beginners, a more experienced trader, and hedge traders. Newbies usually enter one trade of big volume on one or several trading instruments that do not correlate. More experienced traders enter with a minimum lot and gradually add up to the position often averaging counter the trend.
Hedge traders use a more complex approach. Their hedging strategy, regardless of the Forex trading system they employ, is based on the maximum diversification of risks. Besides, they can use multiple trading strategies that differ in the risk level, type of market analysis, and other parameters. I will give a simple example: an aggressive strategy may yield a good profit, and, if it fails, a more conservative strategy will compensate for the loss.
Hedging in the Forex market is one of the most popular tools to hedge against different kinds of trading risks. With the right application, this method allows forex traders to reduce the risks with a minimum loss in profits. However, the only drawback of hedging in forex is at least a two-fold increase in the cost of opening a position.
That is the end of the introductory article devoted to hedging forex. In the next forex training article, I will continue dealing with different forex hedging techniques, for example, Forex grid and Forex Double Grid Strategy. Subscribe and stay informed!
Important! Once you finished reading, I recommend you to consolidate learning through the practical application as soon as possible. Open a demo account and test all hedging strategies I covered in this article.
You can do it right here, in the [LiteForex][19] trading terminal that I used while I was writing this article, it is very convenient and user- friendly. You can enter trades to buy or sell on all the currency pairs I mentioned today.
I wish you good luck and good profits!
P.S. Did you like my article? Share it in social networks: it will be the best “thank you” :)
Ask me questions and comment below. I’ll be glad to answer your questions and give necessary explanations.
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![Hedging Forex: how to hedge Forex trades?][22]
The content of this article reflects the author’s opinion and does not necessarily reflect the official position of LiteForex. The material published on this page is provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered as the provision of investment advice for the purposes of Directive 2004/39/EC.
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