As the S&P 500 continues to trend mostly sideways so far this year, an increasing number of investors are becoming nervous that the six-year bull market may be finally reaching its top. Citi Research analyst Stephen Antczak sees this market anxiety reflected in the growing number of clients asking about hedges in recent weeks. Antczak recently tested six possible hedges and released a report on his findings.

The Candidates

Antczak tested six hedges in six different bear market environments and also tested for weakness in bull market environments before declaring a winner. Here’s a breakdown of the five hedges he compared:

1. Long 10-year treasury

2. Underweight triple-Cs/overweight cash

3. CDX.HY

4. CDX.IG

5. HY credit total return swap

6. CDX.IG equity tranche

Bear Environment

In the bear market environment, Antczak found that 10-year treasuries performed…

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