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1. The Swiss franc (SF) futures contract has the following specifications Contra

ID: 2812267 • Letter: 1

Question

1. The Swiss franc (SF) futures contract has the following specifications Contract Size -SF125,000 Initial Margin - $3,600 Maintenance Margin $2,700 (a) (5 points) For each trading day in the table below calculate: (1) daily settlement, (2) margin account balance, and (3) variation margin for a single contract. Do this for both a long position and a short position. Do not withdraw excess funds from the margin account Day SF Futures Daily Margin Acct Variation Daily Margin Acct Variation Price Settlement Balance (Long) MarginSettlement Balance (Long) Margin (Short) (Short) (Long) (Short) Monday $0.9692 Monday $0.9612 Tuesday$0.9724 Wednesday $0.9804 Thursday$0.9732 Open Close Close Close Close (b) (5 points) What is the gain/loss for the long and short positions?

Explanation / Answer

Solution

When the margin account falls below the maintenance margin,should add extra funds to match margin account to initial margin.

Formulas we require for calculation are below

Daily Settlement for long : (closing -opening position) * contract size

Daily settlement for short : (opening - closing)*contract size

Margin account balance : Daily settlement (+/ -) previous day closing margin account. i.e

should add / subtract daily settlement to margin balance from initial margin.

Below table shows the calculation for Question a and b.

Day

SF futures price

Daily settlement (long)

Margin Acct balance (long)

Variation margin (long)

Daily settlement(short)

Margin Acct Balance(short)

Variation margin (short)

Monday( open)

0.9692

Nil

3600

3600

Monday(close)

0.9612

-1000

2600

1000

1000

4600

Tuesday (close)

0.9724

1400

5000

-1400

3200

Wednesday (close)

0.9804

1000

6000

-1000

2200

1400

Thursday (close)

0.9732

-900

5100

900

4500

Gain / Loss

500

-500

Day

SF futures price

Daily settlement (long)

Margin Acct balance (long)

Variation margin (long)

Daily settlement(short)

Margin Acct Balance(short)

Variation margin (short)

Monday( open)

0.9692

Nil

3600

3600

Monday(close)

0.9612

-1000

2600

1000

1000

4600

Tuesday (close)

0.9724

1400

5000

-1400

3200

Wednesday (close)

0.9804

1000

6000

-1000

2200

1400

Thursday (close)

0.9732

-900

5100

900

4500

Gain / Loss

500

-500