1.   And foreign investors, seeking to hedge their portfolios, are shunning big name stocks held by Japanese institutional investors and bidding up these speculative shares instead.

2.   Another was skittishness about the markets, which led investors to hedge their portfolios against possible declines in stocks and bonds.

3.   By buying puts, Schachter can hedge his portfolio if the technology stocks he holds in the fund fall suddenly.

4.   Fleet executives said they considered hedging the portfolio, essentially locking in asset sale prices early on, but decided the strategy was too expensive.

5.   He can also hedge his portfolio against falling prices with options and can retreat into cash when the stock market looks particularly dicey.

6.   Instead, Chadwick hedges the portfolios.

7.   Investors use options to hedge their portfolios against swings in stock prices.

8.   Institutional investors have complained the number of companies involved is too small to enable them to effectively hedge their portfolios.

9.   It entailed computer-generated orders to hedge the portfolios by selling stocks and stock index futures in precisely determined volumes when stock prices moved down.

10.   Now, funds will be better able to use derivatives to hedge their portfolios against losses.