First, investors have bought exposure to commodities as an economic hedge.
Mrs. Smith said she was maximizing her 401(k) contributions to have "an economic hedge against inflation".
Mr. Partnoy said broad economic hedging carries risks of its own — and sometimes they can be bigger than proprietary bets like the one that brought down MF Global.
For Japan, South-East Asia has fast become a diplomatic and economic hedge against China.As part of a new financial pact with the region, Japan is investing in the government bonds of ASEAN members.
The company is an economic hedge, because the more firms fear a slowdown, the more they shift to temp workers.
Since March 31 , 2012 CIO has had significant mark-to-market losses in its synthetic credit portfolio, and this portfolio has proven to be riskier, more volatile and less effective as an economic hedge than the Firm previously believed.
In a regulatory filing on Thursday, the bank said that, since the end of March, its chief investment office "has had significant mark-to-market losses in its synthetic credit portfolio, and this portfolio has proven to be riskier, more volatile and less effective as an economic hedge than the firm previously believed".
FINANCIAL TIMES Hedge Funds Back Out of Commodities | As commodities fell in value amid economic uncertainty, hedge funds cut their bets on higher commodity prices for the first time in four weeks, Bloomberg News reports.
It also doesn't hurt to have a bit of oil exposure, to capitalize on global economic growth, hedge against inflation, and reduce the impact of any investment exodus from emerging markets.
Whatever the legalities of the fraud charge, it looks awful — more like the doings in a Las Vegas casino than on Wall Street, and more like Gordon Gekko greed than legitimate economic interest to hedge against risk.
What is scary is the degree to which the Fed assimilated the alarmism on the Street: "These guys are so afraid of an economic cycle," a hedge-fund manager remarked.
