Investing: Pairing Up

With the stock market zigzagging, the popular hedge-fund practice of pairs trading may be for you

In case you haven't noticed, the stock market is going nowhere. Sure, last year the Dow rose 25% from depressed levels in 2002. But the average stock is down again this year and has been dead money for more than five years. Since the Dow first closed above 10,000, in March 1999, it has crisscrossed that milestone 21 times and hovers near there today.

This humdrum era for stocks, which analysts say could last at least several more years, has given new life to strategies designed to profit in a stalled market. All but vanquished during the long bull run of...

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