long position

问题如下：

An investor enters into a short position in a gold futures contract at USD 294.20. Each futures contract controls 100 troy ounces. The initial margin is USD 3,200, and the maintenance margin is USD 2,900. At the end of the first day, the futures price drops to USD 286.6. Which of the following is the amount of the variation margin at the end of the first day?

选项：

A.

0

B.

USD 34

C.

USD 334

D.

USD 760

解释：

ANSWER: A

This is a tricky question. Because the investor is short and the price fell, the position creates a profit and there is no variation margin. However, for the long the loss is $760, which would bring the equity to $3,200-$760=$2,440. Because this is below the maintenance margin of $2,900, an additional payment of $760 is required to bring back the equity to the initial margin.