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Quantitative Finance · Glossary

What is Hedger and speculator?

Also known as: hedger · speculator

Definition 18.7 Markets I: The Ecosystem and Exchange-Traded Markets · Chapter 18 — Futures Contracts and Their Exchanges

A hedger holds futures to offset a risk it has elsewhere: a producer’s crop, a fund’s shares, a dealer’s bonds. A speculator holds them for the exposure itself. The US regulator’s weekly report on positions classifies large traders as commercial, those who use the contract for hedging as its regulation defines it, and non-commercial.

Rounding to whole contracts: the residual exposure of a beta-one portfolio, in percent of its value. Below $150 000 the large contract cannot hedge at all (residual 100%, off the scale). Data: .
Figure 18.4. Rounding to whole contracts: the residual exposure of a beta-one portfolio, in percent of its value. Below $150 000 the large contract cannot hedge at all (residual 100%, off the scale). Data: Method 18.8.
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