The standard deviation of monthly changes in the spot price of live cattle is (in cents per pound) 1.2. The standard deviation of monthly changes in the futures price of live cattle for the closest contract is 1.4. The correlation between the futures price changes and the spot price changes is 0.7. It is now October 15. A beef producer is committed to purchasing 200,000 pounds of live cattle on November 15. The producer wants to use the December live cattle futures contracts to hedge its risk. Each contract is for the delivery of 40,000 pounds of cattle. What strategy should the beef producer follow?

An investor enters into a long futures position to buy 5,000 bushels of wheat for 575 cents per bushel. The initial margin is $5,000 and the maintenance margin is $2,500.a. To trigger a margin call the price would have to (rise above/fall below) _______ cents per bushel.b. If the price moved 10 cents farther than the minimum move described in part a, the amount of variance margin required of the investor would be $_______.c. Starting from the original position, the investor would have to see a price movement of _____ cents (above/below) ______ 575 cents in order to withdraw $2,000 from the margin account.

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Suppose the initial margin on heating oil futures is $20, 200, the maintenance margin is S 16, 500 per contract, and you establish a long position of 12 contracts today, where each contract represents 27,000 gallons. Tomorrow, the contract settles down 5.07 from the previous day's price. What is the maximum price decline on the contract that you can sustain without getting a margin call?

As a major maker/manufacturer of premium leather hand luggage, you are concerned that leather prices may move beyond their current level of $30/pound when you are ready for production. Therefore, you enter into the appropriate option contract. The strike price is fixed at the current spot price at an options price of $5.00 per option. What is the position you take and your profit or loss, if eight months later, leather is selling at the spot market for $38.50? Olong futures, $7.50 Oshort futures, -$4.00 Olong call, $3.50 Olong call, -$5.00 O long futures, $5.00

Assume that Promina Group expects to need NZ$943,000 in 6 months. The existing spot rate of the New Zealand dollar is $0.70. The 6-month forward rate of the New Zealand dollar is $0.72. Promina Group created a probability distribution for the future spot rate in 6 months as follows: FUTURE SPOT RATE PROBABILITY 28% 46% 26% $0.68 $0.73 $0.78 Assume that 6-month put options on New Zealand dollars are available with an exercise price of $0.73 and a premium of $0.04 per unit. 6-month call options on New Zealand dollars are available with an exercise price of $0.70 and a premium of $0.03 per unit. Assume the following money market rates per annum: US Deposit rate 7% Borrowing rate 8% Determine whether a forward hedge, a money market hedge, or a currency options hedge would be the most appropriate. NEW ZEALAND 2% 3% a. b. Compare the most appropriate hedge to an unhedged strategy and decide whether Promina Group should hedge its position.