Practice Test 3 Flashcards
A businessman sells his product in Japan and receives payment in Japanese currency. If he fears a devaluation of the Japanese yen, he would sell yen in the futures market.
a. True
b. False
a. True
The exporter, anticipating a decline in the Japanese yen, would protect himself by selling yen contracts. If the yen does decline in price, he will be able to close out his purchase by buying yen at a lower dollar amount, thereby generating a profit to offset his loss on the actual yen he receives.
A pool has operated for seven years. The pool operator must include the entire performance history in the disclosure document.
a. True
b. False
b. False
The risk disclosure document must include performance history for five years. If the pool for which the CPO is soliciting has been trading for more than five years, the disclosure document must contain only the last five years.
A sell stop order is an order that becomes a market order when the contract sells or is offered at or below the stop price.
a. True
b. False
a. True
A sell stop order becomes a market order when a contract sells or is offered at or below the stop price. It is used to limit a loss or protect a profit.
In a normal market, the difference between near and deferred futures contracts is called:
a. Basis
b. Crush
c. Reverse crush
d. Carrying charge
d. Carrying charge
A normal market is when the price for the nearest month is selling at the lowest price, while the prices for deferred months are selling at higher prices. This type of market is also referred to as a carrying charge market or a premium market.
A bottom head and shoulders and a descending triangle are bearish configurations on a chart.
a. True
b. False
b. False
This is false. A bottom head and shoulders is technically bullish.
A CPO’s account statements must be distributed at least quarterly.
a. True
b. False
a. True
This is true. A CPO must distribute statements of account at least quarterly. Pools with Net Asset Value greater than $500,000 must send statements monthly.
A client shorts a Eurodollar futures contracts on the CME at 94.70. Original margin is $810 per contract and maintenance margin is $600. Later the contracts settlement price is 94.88, the client would be required to deposit an additional:
a. 0
b. $110
c. $270
d. $450
d. $450
The client deposited original margin of $810. Since the Eurodollar futures values settled at a higher price and the client is short the contract, the equity in the contract will decline. The contract increased by 18 basis points and the value of each basis point is equal to $25. The equity is reduced by $450 (18 x $25). The equity is now $360 ($810 - $450). Since the equity in the account is below the maintenance requirement, the client must deposit $450 to bring the equity to the original margin requirement level.
Arbitration is used as a means of dispute settlement. Decisions of the arbitrator(s) are non-appealable.
a. True
b. False
a. True
Decisions of the arbitrator(s) are nonappealable and can be enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction.
Open interest decreasing while prices are going down is referred to as a:
a. Weak market
b. Liquidating market
c. Overbought market
d. Inverted market
b. Liquidating market
In this situation, existing positions are being liquidated more aggressively than new positions are being established. Therefore, since prices are going down, it is evident that longs are liquidating their positions more aggressively than shorts, i.e., selling their positions in order to leave the market and offering the contracts at progressively lower prices in order to offset their positions. This type of market is considered to be technically strong and is called a liquidating market.
A hedger establishes a futures position that is opposite to his cash position. He would be most concerned with:
a. The cash price
b. The futures price
c. Changes in the basis
d. Whether the cash and futures market will move up or down
c. Changes in the basis
The hedger does not care about the price of the cash or the futures. Instead, he cares about the basis, which is the relationship between the price of cash and the price of futures.
For example, if a hedger is long cash at $3.50 and short futures at $3.60, he does not care if the price of cash rises by $1.00 and the price of futures rises by $1.00 as his basis will not change. However, he would care if the price of cash rises by 99 cents and the price of futures rises by $1.00 as this would represent a basis change of 1 cent and would represent in this case a loss of 1 cent.
Variation margin is the amount of funds deposited by a customer in addition to the original margin when:
a. The market price moves against his position
b. The futures position is closed out
c. The customer holding the opposite side of the futures contract makes a demand for the deposit of additional funds
d. The market price declines by 50% or more if the customer is long or advances by 50% or more if the customer is short
a. The market price moves against his position
Variation margin is the margin that a member firm calls for when the market goes against a customer’s position. The call for additional margin will be sent when the equity drops to a predetermined level. For example, the initial margin requirement, which is deposited when the position is assumed, might be $1,000 and the variation margin level might be $750. If the equity drops to $750 or less, the member firm will call for additional margin necessary to bring the account to the initial level of $1,000.
An elevator operator has inventory of 5,000,000 bushels of corn. He wishes to hedge, but is reluctant to use the futures market. He decides to use options and wants to have minimum risk. Cash corn is 1.80 1/2 and December corn is 1.91 3/4. A December 190 call is 14 1/2 and a December 190 put is 11. The corn contract is 5,000 bushels. He decides to buy 1,000 options. In November, the cash price of corn is 1.76 3/4. The December option prices are 3 1/4 and 17 3/4. As a result of the hedge, what is the market price of the corn to the hedger?
a. 180
b. 180 1/4
c. 180 1/2
d. 183 1/2
d. 183 1/2
The market price of the corn to the hedger is 183 1/2, calculated as follows: ##
A trader buys a contract at a price of $4.55. The price advances to $4.65. The trader anticipates that the price will rise, but he wants to protect his profit if he is wrong. He would most likely place a stop order to sell at:
a. $4.70
b. $4.66
c. $4.63
d. $4.55
c. $4.63
The stop order to sell is placed below the current market price. As the market price is $4.65, choices (a) and (b) are not possible choices. Choices (c) and (d) are both below the current market price, but choice (d) is not a logical choice because the question states that the trader wants to protect most of his unrealized profit. If he were to enter a stop at $4.55 (his purchase price), he would lose all of his profit.
An individual has a profit of 88 points on each of three T-bill futures contracts. What is the total profit?
a. $2,200
b. $6,600
c. $8,800
d. $26,400
b. $6,600
One point on a T-bill contract equals $25. A profit of 88 points would, therefore, total $2,200. Based on three contracts, the total profit is $6,600.
A customer takes on a bear call spread position. The prices of the options are 2-20 and 5-24. The strike prices of the options are 84 and 88. The maximum potential loss is:
a. $875.00
b. $937.50
c. $3,062.50
d. $3,125.00
b. $937.50
Bear call spreads are credit spreads. Therefore, the investor sold (is short) the call at 5-24, and bought (is long) the call at 2-20 for a net credit of 3-04 (3 4/64 or $3,062.50). The maximum loss potential on a credit spread is the difference in the strike prices (88 - 84, or 4 points, or $4,000) minus the net credit ($3,062.50). The maximum loss is $937.50.
An IB does not maintain the signed and dated acknowledgment from the customer that he has reviewed the Risk Disclosure Document. It is given to the FCM.
a. True
b. False
b. False
The IB must maintain this record.
A trader buys a contract of corn at $1.25 and deposits margin of 12 cents a bushel. Commission is $30. He sells the corn at $1.41. The contract size of corn is 5,000 bushels. His net profit on the trade would be:
a. 15%
b. 25%
c. 45%
d. None of the above
d. None of the above
On a margin deposit of 12 cents a bushel, the trader is investing $600. The contract now advances 16 cents. His profit is therefore 16 cents a bushel times 5,000 bushels, which equals $800. From this profit, we deduct the commission of $30. This yields a net profit of $770. As his original margin investment was $600, a profit of $770 would represent slightly more than 128% ($770 divided by $600). Therefore, none of the figures in choices (a), (b), or (c) is correct.
In a thin market, with relatively few speculators, futures prices will:
a. Be about the same as in an actively traded market
b. Be more volatile than in an actively traded market
c. Be less volatile than in an actively traded market
d. Be much closer to the price of the cash commodity than would be the case in an actively traded market
b. Be more volatile than in an actively traded market
A thin market, which is one in which there are relatively few participants, is generally more volatile than a market in which there is a relatively large amount of participants. A volatile market is one in which there are wide spreads between bids and offers and large differences between subsequent trades.
A customer buys a T-bill put and pays 1.75. The premium he pays for the put is:
a. $175.00
b. $2,734.38
c. $4,375.00
d. $5,468.75
c. $4,375.00
T-bill options are quoted in basis points. A premium of 1.75 represents 175 basis points at $25 each for a total of $4,375 (175 x $25).
In order for a trader to exceed speculative position limits, he must register with the CFTC.
a. True
b. False
b. False
The CFTC has established trading limits and position limits for certain commodities. These limits apply to speculators only. The limits do not apply to bona fide hedgers. There is no way that a trader could exceed these limits by applying to the CFTC for an exemption, as there are no exemptions of any kind granted to a trader by the CFTC.
On January 26, Jack Stevens agrees to purchase from XYZ Copper Industries 200,000 pounds of copper at 65.00 on May 1. Mr. Stevens also agreed to sell the 200,000 pounds of copper to DEF Heating Supply Co., on May 1, at the cash market price. On January 26, the cash market price is 65.00 and the May Futures is at 66.00. On February 2, copper prices begin to weaken and the cash market is now 64.50. The copper contract size is 25,000 lbs. To protect himself against an adverse price change, Mr. Stevens should:
a. Buy May copper futures
b. Sell May copper futures
c. Buy February and sell May futures
d. Sell February and buy May futures
b. Sell May copper futures
On May 1, Mr. Stevens has a commitment to purchase 200,000 pounds of copper at 65.00. He will then sell the copper at the cash market price to DEF Heating Co. His concern is declining copper prices, therefore, he should sell the May futures.
A futures contract:
Is for the purchase or sale of an established uniform quantity of an actual commodity as set forth in the exchange rules and regulations
Permits the seller to elect the deliverable grade as specified in the exchange rules and regulations
Permits the buyer to select the exact lot for purchase
Permits the seller to specify the exact lot for delivery
a. I and II
b. I and III
c. II and III
d. III and IV
a. I and II
A futures contract is a standardized contract entered into by a buyer and seller that always specifies a specific quantity (5,000 bushels of wheat, 36,000 pounds of imported boneless beef, 100 tons of soybean meal, etc.) of a specific grade (the basis grade with allowances for delivery of premium and discount grades) at the contract price. The rules of the exchange allow the seller to elect the day of delivery within the delivery month, and allows the seller to deliver either the basis grade at the contract price, or a premium or discount grade at appropriate differentials. The buyer must accept whatever grade the seller elects to deliver.
The buyer does not have the option of specifying the exact lot of the actuals that he wants, and the seller does not specify the exact lot that he will deliver when both enter into the contract.
The Commodity Pool Operator must distribute the Account Statement to the pool participants at least monthly in the case of pools with net assets of more than $500,000 at the beginning of the pool’s fiscal year.
a. True
b. False
a. True
The Account Statement must be distributed at least monthly to the pool participants in the case of pools with net assets of more than $500,000. If $500,000 or less, then it must be sent at least quarterly.
A customer is long five stock index futures contracts at 65.05. He liquidates when the price is 67.35. Commissions are $50 round-turn. The contract has an index of 250. His profit is:
a. $525
b. $575
c. $2,625
d. $2,875
c. $2,625
The customer’s profit is $2,625, calculated as follows: