Are markets rising too much, too fast? After hitting a record high earlier this month, the S & P 500 again notched a new closing high — along with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite. Last week, Goldman Sachs told clients they should start hedging for a market decline . The Wall Street bank cautioned that there are several reasons to think that stocks will fall and the volatility index VIX will spike over the next month.
"Overall, the markets' hottest sectors seem stretched so perhaps small caps start to now play catch up which turned positive today and had a great day," he said, naming the Russell 2000 index. "So yes, the short answer is I would think this would be a good time to hedge markets," Neuhauser concluded. Hedging with options Brian Arcese, portfolio manager and equity analyst at Foord Asset Management, said he's "conservatively positioned" right now.