Commodity Trading Strategies – The Spread

admin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:56:20 +0000

Many of the more common commodity trading strategies actually serve two purposes. The turn of a profit is but one. A hedge is the other purpose. Hedging is a method of minimizing risks by attempting to purchase some form of insurance. As well as minimizing risks, it also usually caps potential profits. One of the strategies to accomplish this is known as the spread.
The majority of the commodities trades do not involve trading the commodity directly, but more in buying or selling a futures contract. “Going long” and “going short” are two of the most basic strategies
To go long means to purchase a futures contract while anticipating that the price will rise before the contract expires. Futures contracts are very similar to stocks or options because vary rarely do the traders or specialists have any actual contact or participation with trading the commodity itself.
Conversely, to go short means to sell the contract while anticipating that the price will drop before the contract expires. Many novices are often perplexed by this strategy. The have trouble wrapping their mind around the concept that the contract is sold by the trader before they even own it.
While the notion may be confusing, the practice is quite simple. While the technicalities remain unseen by the traders, the inner workings are rather simple. The contract is borrowed and the one is bought to make of the shortfall later.
An illustration of this concept is as follows: Trader X sells a futures contract in May for September wheat for $6.00 per bushel. The contract will be written for a minimum amount, which is typically around 5,000 bushels. The price falls in August to $5.40 per bushel. This will yield a profit of 60 cents on each bushel, which equals $3,000, excluding commission. The profits and losses for these ventures are settled daily for trading accounts and the broker balances the books by buying a contract of the same type on the trader’s behalf with the trader’s money.
Effective trading strategies are a combination or different types and lengths of contracts. Throwing in some form of spread is one of the simplest. There are a number of varieties that can be executed, but a simpler approach is sometimes the best move.
An example of this more simple approach is illustrated in this hypothetical situation. In May, the price for a July wheat contract is $5.90 per bushel and for a September contract the price is $6.00 per bushel. By predicting the spread between these two and by anticipating changes before July to greater than 10 cents – and to be correct in that prediction could yield a profit by selling the July and purchasing the September. By shorting July and going long in September, you do profit.
This profit is incurred by watching carefully the behavior of the contracts and acting accordingly. In June, the July contract may have risen to $6.00 per bushel and the September to $6.25 per bushel. By liquidating both positions, in other words, settling both contracts, this results in a 10 cent loss on the July contract, but a gain of 25 cents on the September contract. This means a 15 cent profit per bushel. A small commission will be incurred on the turn around, but it is minute. On a contract that covers 5,000 bushels, this means a net gain of $750.
While a larger gain would have resulted had July not been shorted, but all trading carries risks and it is impossible to predict the future, especially in the stock market, with any degree of certainly. Hence, the term, speculation is used to refer to these activities.
There is an element of rationale for betting against yourself by shorting and by going long at once allows the trader to hedge their best on whichever direction they expect the market to take. Utilization of this spread strategy as well as with many other variations does succeed in capping the potential for profit. However, it does work to minimize downside losses as well.

The Art of Hedging in Options Trading

admin — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:02:55 +0000

A hedge is an investment made to offset the risk incurred by entering another investment. Essentially you are setting up a bet on both sides so that one offsets the other and you can end up winning either way.
Think of it as a form of insurance.
Options are frequently used in hedging.
For example, you can speculate that the market price will rise in the future and buy a call today. But, because the market is uncertain and you’re not certain it will rise, you simultaneously buy a put option.
By carefully selecting the appropriate combinations of strike price, expiration date and type of option an investor can minimize risk and maximize the probability of making a profit.
So how does it all work?
Well let’s take a look at a common hedging strategy: the Strangle.
In this strategy, an investor holds both call and put options with the same maturity, but with different strike prices.
The contracts are purchased ‘out of the money’ and are therefore cheaper. ‘Out of the money’ means the strike price of the underlying asset is higher (for a call) or lower (for a put) than the current market price.
For example let’s say Intel (INTC) is currently trading at $40 per share. You could buy one call at $3 and one put at $2 with the call having a strike price of $45, the put $35. Your total investment would be ($3 x 100) + ($2 x 100) = $500.
If the price over the length of the contracts stays between $35 and $45 the total possible loss = $500, the cost of the options. So your risk in this kind of hedge is limited to $500.
Suppose the price drops near expiration to $25. The call would expire worthless, but the put is worth ($35-$25) x 100 = $1000 – ($2 x 100) = $800. Subtract the cost of the call, $800 – $300 = $500. So that’s your net profit (ignoring commissions and taxes).
The difference between the exposure and the potential profit represents a kind of hedge. Though you are essentially ‘betting’ that the price could go either way, your downside is limited to the combined cost of the put and the call.
There are, not surprisingly, nearly as many hedging strategies as there are investors. A couple of common types are:
The collar: Hold the underlying asset and simultaneously both buy a put and sell a call of the same asset. The short call limits gains, but the long put hedges against any losses from the underlying asset.
The protective put: Buy the asset and also buy a put option on the same asset. At expiration, the asset may have gained (eliminating the value of the put option), but the rise in the asset offsets the loss.
And there are a whole host of other variations. Most do involve speculating on the price direction of the underlying asset, while taking advantage of the leverage, cost and timing characteristics of options. As with any investment strategy, make sure you understand the pros and cons before laying down your bet.

Hedging Options » Trading Strategy

Commodity Trading Strategies – The Spread

The Art of Hedging in Options Trading