hedging

hedging, method of reducing the risk of loss caused by price fluctuation. It consists of the purchase or sale of equal quantities of the same or very similar commodities, approximately simultaneously, in two different markets with the expectation that a future change in price in one market will be offset by an opposite change in the other market.

One example is that of a grain-elevator operator who buys wheat in the country and at the same time sells a futures contract for the same quantity of wheat. When his wheat is delivered later to the terminal market or to the processor in a normal market, he buys back his futures contract. Any change of price that occurred during the interval should have been cancelled out by mutually compensatory movements in his cash and futures holdings. If the grain price has dropped, he can buy back his futures contract at less than he sold it for; his profit from doing so will be offset by his loss on the grain.

The hedger thus hopes to protect himself against loss resulting from price changes by transferring the risk to a speculator who relies upon his skill in forecasting price movements. Selling futures is called a short hedge; buying futures is called a long hedge. Hedging is also common in the securities and foreign- exchange markets.