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qualification here - it should be a red flag to investors who are as good as Warren Buffett. he is effective enough in his investing strategy that he has no real need to hedge; remember he's one who's also of the practice to only invest in a very select few set of companies, himself, but advises the average investor is still well advised to more thoroughly diversify. the same thing applies at the higher level - Berkshire Hathaway has been very profitable with insurance and other investments largely due to his insight, methods and practice. how many Buffetts do you think AIG, C or the others have in their top echelon? 1, 2, maybe even zero? thus those other entities seek to balance their exposures anywhere, anytime, through hedging techniques and alternatives. again, these are not recommended or probably even necessary for the amateur or individual investor. but, note, interestingly enough, the folks repeatedly posting this article and its derivatives (pun intended) are the goldbugs and their disciples who've been reluctant to post Puplava or their other doom & gloomers, given the inevitable plunge in gold prices over the past couple weeks and no mention of John Bollinger's warnings over the same period that gold was primed for a collapse of $100 with the war pending and the possibility for even more losses in more accelerated fashion should the war go well and quickly for the USA.