How to hedge the $USD?

Quote from drukes1234:

I'm a Canadian trader who trades US equities and I'm just getting killed daily with the fall of the $USD. Assuming I have $200k open positions denominated in US dollars, every day the USD drops 1% compared to the CAD (which seems like almost every day now) I lose $2000. Is there any way I can hedge this?


simple. Buy Crude Oil. Crude is pegged to the USD hence inversely correlated. Exit the trade when the peg is removed. As a Canadian trader you should have your account denominated in CAD. Otherwise get another broker who is able to do that.
 
Quote from timbo:

Hedging payoff is stochastic.

Could you elaborate on this, I don't get it? I understand that the individual hedge will follow a stochastic process but so will the value of the trading account. Therefore the net effect i.e hedge payoff, should be linear?
 
Quote from drukes1234:
And my last question (I hope) is, let's say I short $35k USD/CAD... does that take away $35k of my buying power?
No. Most brokers use 1:50 margin for forex. So shorting $35k worth of USD will use 2% margin = $700 margin.
 
I called Interactive Brokers and they say I'm being charged 6% for my USD short... now this makes no sense for my hedge if I'm paying 6% a month on 40k
 
Quote from drukes1234:
I called Interactive Brokers and they say I'm being charged 6% for my USD short... now this makes no sense for my hedge if I'm paying 6% a month on 40k
You are charged the ANNUAL INTEREST rate differential between the currency you're short and the one you're long. I am not sure what the carry is between CAD and USD but I doubt it's not 6% annually and definitely not MONTHLY!

Of course, it can also mean you could receive interest depending on the carry.

6% sounds about right for 1 year out USD puts 1 year out. But not for Forex spot long/short hedging. Did they quote you option prices?
 
I called IB again and they said they charge 6% per year for the USD short... the hedge doesn't make much sense if I'm already 6% in the hole
 
Quote from drukes1234:

I'm a Canadian trader who trades US equities and I'm just getting killed daily with the fall of the $USD. Assuming I have $200k open positions denominated in US dollars, every day the USD drops 1% compared to the CAD (which seems like almost every day now) I lose $2000. Is there any way I can hedge this?

If you are a daytrader or short-term trader, then just sell your USD for CAD. If you need USD in your account for some reason (e.g. you hold US stocks long-term) then use the CAD futures on the CME to hedge your exposure.

After that, just make sure to convert your profits whenever they reach like $10k.
 
Back
Top