Currencies That Hedge Against Earnings Surprises
By: Kelley Holland | News Writer
The stronger dollar is hurting a number of multinational companies. If you're worried about your stock portfolio, this strategist has a hedge for you.
Worried about your stock portfolio, given the companies announcing hits from currency exposure? market? Todd Gordon, co-head of research and trading at Aspen Trading Group, is here to help.
Gordon has looked at the performance of the yen and the dollar, both safe haven currencies, and their trading patterns relative to the moves of the S&P 500 stock index.
"In the last two weeks," he told CNBC's Scott Wapner, "we're starting to see a direct correlation between stocks and yen because of the dollar." And he favors the dollar as a currency to buy, since it rallied against the yen after the Federal Reserve said it would extend Operation Twist.
As for a weak currency to sell against the dollar, Gordon likes the euro. "Take a look at the euro over the S&P and we can see clear relative weakness on euro-dollar over the S&P," he says.
"If you want to hedge a long stock portfolio, go short euro in the FX markets."
Rebecca Patterson, chief markets strategist for J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Institutional, likes the trade. "I think this makes a ton of sense," she says. The extreme short positions on the euro have declined, she says, so the market is more neutral. And "don't forget - the currency markets are actually more liquid than equity markets, so another reason to think about currencies to hedge" a stock position.
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CURRENCY FUTURES
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