How to hedge a stock with options
As volatility increases and downside risks arise, protecting your portfolio from a correction can be achieved using options. Understand the nuances of buying protection using our P&L Simulator to Decide whether you want to hedge your call position by buying offsetting put options or by establishing a short position in the underlying stock. The factors to consider in making this decision are the amount of capital you want to tie up in this hedge and the premium on the put options. Calculate Contracts to Hedge. Calculating Index Contracts to Hedge a Portfolio. Stock prices tend to move in tandem in response to the overall stock market as measured by the S&P 500 Index (SPX). The 500 stocks that comprise the S&P 500 Index represent almost 85% of the stock market value in the United States.