Part 03
Part 03
Part 03
2. Futures contracts trade with every month as a delivery month. A company is hedging the
purchase of the underlying asset on June 15. Which futures contract should it use?
A. The June contract
B. The July contract
C. The May contract
D. The August contract
3. On March 1 a commodity’s spot price is $60 and its August futures price is $59. On July 1 the
spot price is $64 and the August futures price is $63.50. A company entered into futures
contracts on March 1 to hedge its purchase of the commodity on July 1. It closed out its position
on July 1. What is the effective price (after taking account of hedging) paid by the company?
A. $59.50
B. $60.50
C. $61.50
D. $63.50
4. On March 1 the price of a commodity is $1,000 and the December futures price is $1,015. On
November 1 the price is $980 and the December futures price is $981. A producer of the
commodity entered into a December futures contracts on March 1 to hedge the sale of the
commodity on November 1. It closed out its position on November 1. What is the effective price
(after taking account of hedging) received by the company for the commodity?
A. $1,016
B. $1,001
C. $981
D. $1,014
5. Suppose that the standard deviation of monthly changes in the price of commodity A is $2. The
standard deviation of monthly changes in a futures price for a contract on commodity B (which
is similar to commodity A) is $3. The correlation between the futures price and the commodity
price is 0.9. What hedge ratio should be used when hedging a one month exposure to the price
of commodity A?
A. 0.60
B. 0.67
C. 1.45
D. 0.90
6. A company has a $36 million portfolio with a beta of 1.2. The futures price for a contract on an
index is 900. Futures contracts on $250 times the index can be traded. What trade is necessary
to reduce beta to 0.9?
A. Long 192 contracts
B. Short 192 contracts
C. Long 48 contracts
D. Short 48 contracts
7. A company has a $36 million portfolio with a beta of 1.2. The futures price for a contract on
an index is 900. Futures contracts on $250 times the index can be traded. What trade is
necessary to increase beta to 1.8?
A. Long 192 contracts
B. Short 192 contracts
C. Long 96 contracts
D. Short 96 contracts
10. A company due to pay a certain amount of a foreign currency in the future decides to hedge
with futures contracts. Which of the following best describes the advantage of hedging?
A. It leads to a better exchange rate being paid
B. It leads to a more predictable exchange rate being paid
C. It caps the exchange rate that will be paid
D. It provides a floor for the exchange rate that will be paid
11. Which of the following best describes the capital asset pricing model?
A. Determines the amount of capital that is needed in particular situations
B. Is used to determine the price of futures contracts
C. Relates the return on an asset to the return on a stock index
D. Is used to determine the volatility of a stock index
14. Which of the following is a reason for hedging a portfolio with an index futures?
A. The investor believes the stocks in the portfolio will perform better than the market but is
uncertain about the future performance of the market
B. The investor believes the stocks in the portfolio will perform better than the market and the
market is expected to do well
C. The portfolio is not well diversified and so its return is uncertain
D. All of the above
19. A silver mining company has used futures markets to hedge the price it will receive for
everything it will produce over the next 5 years. Which of the following is true?
A. It is liable to experience liquidity problems if the price of silver falls dramatically
B. It is liable to experience liquidity problems if the price of silver rises dramatically
C. It is liable to experience liquidity problems if the price of silver rises dramatically or falls
dramatically
D. The operation of futures markets protects it from liquidity problems
20. A company will buy 1000 units of a certain commodity in one year. It decides to hedge 80% of its
exposure using futures contracts. The spot price and the futures price are currently $100 and
$90, respectively. The spot price and the futures price in one year turn out to be $112 and $110,
respectively. What is the average price paid for the commodity?
A. $92
B. $96
C. $102
D. $106