Carnival doesn't hedge fuel costs and stands to benefit even more from price drops.

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Easy's earnings are vulnerable to price swings because it doesn't hedge fuel costs.

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Even this was enough to fuel rumours this week that some hedge funds are in serious trouble, as are the investment banks who deal with them and invest alongside them.

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Traders would love to turn the risks faced by suppliers, transmitters and retailers of electricity into financial products, so that they could hedge the hazards of weather, fuel supply and wind, and settle up in cash rather than in actual electricity.

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Many airlines routinely hedge themselves to a degree against rising fuel costs: Southwest Airlines, Northwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines are all reported to have reasonable protection from rising prices, at least for now.

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While there is no hard and fast rule, investors should look favorably upon companies that hedge at least 30% of their expected annual fuel usage.

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The most futuristic product is a tiny fuel cell to produce power for use in portable applications, from hedge trimmers to mobile telephones.

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EasyJet's earnings were hurt by the rising price of oil, which it failed to adequately hedge itself against--a process of buying its fuel ahead of time at an agreed-upon price.

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That in turn, helped fuel a 116% increase since 2007 in the price of gold, the classic hedge against inflation, because its value tends to increase as the dollar weakens.

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For example, a business might hedge against rising oil prices by buying a financial product to secure stable fuel costs, so an airlines might have an interest in locking in a decent price.

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