A company has a $40 million portfolio with a beta of 1.1. The futures price for a contract on an index is 800. Futures contracts on $250 times the index can be traded. What trade is necessary to reduce beta to 0.9?

a. Long 176 contracts

b. Short 36 contracts

c. None of these choices

d. Short 176 contracts

e. Long 44 contracts

f. Long 36 contracts

g. Short 44 contracts