1. For the following questions the price of an S&P 500 Index Futures contract equals 250 Current S&P 500 Index Value. The margin requirement on each contract is $20,000.

   Please answer the following questions:

2. At Yahoo! Finance identify the last traded value for the S&P 500 Index and the date it was last retrieved:

3. Last Traded S&P 500 Index Value	Date

4. At the CME Group site obtain the next four quarterly S&P 500 Index Futures quotes:

5. Month/Year	Last Price

6. Answer the following questions:
   1. Over the next four quarters are the S&P 500 Index Futures contract prices rising, falling, or flat? What does that suggest about the market expectations for the S&P 500 over the next year?
7. 2. Focusing on the longest dated S&P 500 Index Futures contract, i.e., the contract that expires last, what is the value of this contract?
8. 3. How many of these longest dated contracts would you have to sell to hedge the current cash position in your individual equity portfolio? Explain why you should sell rather than purchase futures contracts to hedge your exposure.
9. 4. What is the amount of cash that you would have to put up to meet the margin requirements? If the current money market rate is 3%, what is the opportunity cost as a result of the margin requirement if the position is maintained until the maturity of the contracts.
10. 5. If the market declines by 10% what will happen to the value of the contracts? If your individual portfolio declines by 10% what is your net position? Explain.