What are hedge funds, and why are they so revered by some and hated by others? Hedge funds are simply pools of money from specific investors designed to outperform the market through alternative investment strategies.
Hedge funds involve higher risk, and thus participation is limited to accredited investors who have a net worth of over
Futures
Investing in the stock market is an inherently risky endeavor. Throughout history, the major stock indices have risen and fallen sharply over both short and long periods of time, leading some investors to avoid stocks due to their volatility.
However, what if you could buy “stock insurance” that would effectively limit your portfolio losses should
Pairs trading, developed by analysts at Morgan Stanley in the 1980s, uses correlation between two similar investment vehicles to create a market-neutral trading strategy – where profits are not related to whether the overall market goes up or down.
Correlation of two investment vehicles refers to how their prices change relative to each other. If
The Foreign Currency Market, often called the FOREX or FX market, is a marketplace for the buying and selling of currencies, which are considered a form of commodity. Investors make or lose money based on changes in the value of relative currencies.
Trades on the FOREX market are made in currency pairs – you are
“The Witching Hour” sounds like a bad public access television show, but it really refers to a particular time of day where odd and unexplainable things happen. When referring to stocks, it means pretty much the same thing, except that the reasons behind the activities are somewhat explainable.
Triple-witching days occur four times a year
Natural gas has been touted by some as a greener alternative to other fossil fuels, and thanks to technological improvements to increase supply, the current price also makes natural gas an attractive option.
The relatively sudden increased availability of natural gas was a boon for energy consumers. Unfortunately for investors, natural gas price plummeted through
Futures are investments that allow you to buy commodities by locking in a certain price at a specific time without actually buying the shares. These are speculative bets you are placing on the future price of a commodity, sometimes far in advance. In addition to commodities such as crude oil and corn, stocks, foreign currencies
Commodities are commercial goods that are considered interchangeable with other goods of the same kind and quality, and traded in that fashion. When most people think of commodities, they may think of traditional commodities such as wheat, cattle, heating oil or gold. Today, this definition can also include financial instruments such as currencies or indices,
Futures are a type of financial contract where two parties agree to a future transaction at an agreed-upon price. That transaction could be in commodities, currencies, stock indexes or other goods.
Futures contracts contain all the pertinent transaction details — quantity, specifications, price per unit and intended delivery method. However, many futures contracts do not