Arbitrage, Hedging, and Speculation: The Foreign Exchange Market

Explains arbitrage, hedging, and speculation from the standpoint of a participant in the foreign exchange market - whether an individual trader or an institutional trader - who possesses analytical skill, economically sound judgment, and who has access to market data. In the foreign exchange market, arbitrage involves the simultaneous purchase and sale of a currency in different markets; the profit comes from the difference in the buying and selling prices. Hedging and speculation are opposing strategies for dealing with risk; hedging is a cover, and speculation is an assumption of risk. The authors also discuss futures, swaps, forward contracts, and other strategies.