people tend to forget that cash is a position. I have always kept an unusually high amount of cash (both physical and in banks)...hasn't been the best move this past decade but it helps me sleep at night. sadly, cash has been better to me than trading thus far lol.
That's a good measure of success. "Forget the S&P. Have you beaten cash?" In most cases, the answer would sadly be no.
futures are probably the best used product by the industry for hedging. But I uses VIX, collars and puts.
%% Stop loss, or sell least profitable; SDS+ SQQQ some [less decay than options] .Stop loss + sell least profitable works well for me. Flash Crashes seldom happen\ downtrends re much more common. Scale out least profitable/ it may reverse when start sellin ' /LOL
%% Cash + cash etfs , helps also, 2x, 3x ETFs. In some cases empty brass cases look like gold, may sell a bit cheaper/depends on size like any market. [ .222, 224 much better than .22] And have to be alert for trend changes. Travis Tritt made over a million bucks most likely , on ''The Whisky Aint Workin Anymore'' Price varies quite abit from state to state