1. An investor sells a futures contract on an asset when the futures price is $1,500. Each contract is on 100 units of the asset. The contract is closed out when the futures price is $1,480. Which of the following is true

a)One cannot tell unless we know the spot price of the asset when the futures position is closed out

b) The investor has made a gain of $4,000

c) The investor has made a gain of $2,000

d) The investor has made a loss of $4,000

e) The investor has made a loss of $2,000

2. It is now 15^th June 2020, you are bullish on the gold price for the next 6 months and willing to speculate by using $197,000 to take the appropriate position in 6-month futures contract. The current spot price and December futures price of gold are $1,950 and $1,975 per ounce, respectively. Each contract is on 100 ounces of gold. The required initial margin is $9,850 per contract. The maintenance margin per contract is $7,350. At the end of the first day of trading, the futures contract settles at $1,990 per ounce. What is the balance of your margin account at the end of that day?

a) $227,000

b) $167,000

c) $195,500

d) $197,000

e) None of the other answers