Alright, imagine you have a piggy bank filled with candies. You love candies and want to enjoy them now, but also save some for later.

1. **Investing (Like Eating Candies Now)**: Whenever the market is doing well, you decide to eat some candies from your piggy bank because it's fun! This is like investing in stocks when the market is up.

2. **Hedging (Saving Some Candies for Later)**: Sometimes, you're not sure if more candies will come tomorrow or if someone might take your piggy bank. So, you put some candies aside in a secret spot just in case. This is like hedging, where you protect your investments by buying something that goes up when the market goes down.

3. **Cash (Keeping Some Candies Aside)**: You always keep some candies aside so that you can enjoy them even if your friends come over and want to trade candies with you. This is like having cash ready for new opportunities or emergencies in the market.

4. **Protection Band (Deciding How Many Candies to Save)**: The amount of candies you put aside for saving and hedging purposes is your "protection band". If you're young or adventurous, you might want to save fewer candies because you're willing to take more risks (low protection band). But if you're older or scared that someone will take your piggy bank, you'll save more candies for later (high protection band).

5. **Traditional 60/40 Portfolio (Sharing Candies Strategically)**: Your friends might tell you to give them 60% of your candies now and take the rest later. This is like a traditional investment strategy where you put 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds.

So, in simple terms, investing is about enjoying candies now, hedging is saving some for later when things might be tough, having cash ready is keeping some aside for opportunities or emergencies, setting a protection band is deciding how much to save, and following a traditional 60/40 portfolio strategy is being smart about sharing your candies with friends. Read from source...

Based on the provided text, here are some potential criticisms and inconsistencies:

1. **Lack of Clarity and Specificity:**
- The article uses vague terms like "high" or "low" bands for protection without defining what these actually mean in terms of percentages or specific strategies.
- It's not clear how one determines their "protection bands," especially for older, conservative investors, and how that relates to cash levels.

2. **Assumptions about Age and Risk Tolerance:**
- The article assumes that younger people should have a lower protection band (more risk) and older people should have a higher band (less risk). While this is a common guideline, it oversimplifies individual risk tolerances and investment goals.
- It's possible for a young person to be more risk-averse than an older individual.

3. **Bond Allocation Advice:**
- The advice for a traditional 60/40 portfolio seems contradictory. While it starts by saying that long duration strategic bond allocation is not favorable, it then suggests considering bonds of five-year duration or less as part of this portfolio.
- It also mentions using bond ETFs tactically but doesn't explain how to incorporate them into a traditional 60/40 portfolio strategy.

4. **No Mention of Inflation-Protected Securities:**
- Given the emphasis on inflation in the article, it's surprising that there's no mention of Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) or other similar inflation-protected bond types.

5. **Inconsistent Use of Terms:**
- The article uses the terms "hedges" and "short term hedges," but these are not clearly defined.
- It also seems to use "cash" and "hedges" interchangeably at times, which could imply that cash is the only hedge, neglecting other financial instruments used for hedging.

6. **Self-Promotion:**
- The article ends with a self-promotional paragraph about the newsletter The Arora Report, which feels out of place in an educational or informative piece.

7. **Lack of Sources and References:**
- While the article mentions that The Arora Report has made accurate calls, it doesn't provide any specific references to back up its advice or claims.

Based on the provided text, here's a breakdown of its sentiment:

* **Bullish Aspects:**
+ The mention of "upcoming opportunities" and the possibility of new stock market highs right after a virus low in 2020.
+ The idea of participating in the upside while being protected by hedges.
* **Neutral Aspects:**
+ Much of the article discusses strategies for different market conditions, such as bearish or bullish markets. It doesn't strongly advocate for one particular market view.
* **Bearish/Defensive Aspects (which might be considered more Negative than Bearish in this context):**
+ The emphasis on protection bands and hedging strategies indicates caution.
+ The comments about adjusting stop-loss levels for stocks suggest a potential downside risk management approach.
+ The advice to focus only on high-quality bonds with short durations or using bond ETFs tactically instead of strategically suggests a slightly defensive stance in the bond market.

Given these points, I would categorize the sentiment of this article as **Neutral, with a slight lean towards Bearish/Defensive** due to its focus on risk management and protection strategies. However, it's important to note that the overall tone is still largely informational and balanced, providing advice for various market scenarios without strongly advocating for one particular view.

Based on the text provided, here are comprehensive investment recommendations and corresponding risk levels for different scenarios:

1. **System or Short-term Tactical Trades & Hedges (Aggressive to Moderate Risk):**
- *Primary Goal:* Participate in market upsides while mitigating downside risks.
- *Tactics:*
- Maintain a protection band of 0-50% cash and hedges, depending on market conditions and individual risk tolerance.
- Add cash to hedges to determine protection bands: higher cash proportion for conservative investors (high protection band) and less cash for aggressive investors (low protection band).
- Adjust partial stop quantities for stock positions (non-ETF) when adjusting hedge levels.
- Use wider stops on remaining quantities and allow more room for high beta stocks.

2. **Traditional 60/40 Portfolio with a Tactical Bond Approach:**
- *Primary Goal:* Balanced growth and income generation while managing risks.
- *Recommendations:*
- Allocate 60% to stocks and 40% to bonds, focusing only on high-quality short-duration bonds (five years or less).
- Consider using bond ETFs as tactical positions instead of strategic allocations.
- *Risk Level:* Moderate to Conservative

3. **Benzinga's Track Record:** (Historical risk/reward)
- Accurately called major market events:
- DJIA rally to 30,000 in early 2019 from around 16,000 in late 2018.
- Start of a mega bull market in March 2009.
- Financial crash of 2008.
- *Risk/Reward:* Varies by specific call; generally high-reward calls come with higher risks.

**General Investment Guidance:**

- Hold sufficient cash to take advantage of new investment opportunities.
- Consider inflation-adjusted risk/reward ratios when investing in bonds.
- Regularly review and adjust hedge levels, stop losses, and positions based on market conditions.