It is October 8. A company has a portfolio of stocks worth $100 million. The beta of the portfolio is 1.2. The company would like to use the CME December futures contract on the S&P 500 to change the beta of the portfolio to 0.8 during the next one-month period from October 8 to November 16. The index is currently 4,000, and each contract is on $250 times the index. (*Circle the correct one, and fill in the blank. If the optimal number of contracts is not an integer, please round off the number to the nearest whole number.)

(a) The company can take a ( long , short ) position in __________ futures contracts.

(b) Suppose that the company changes its mind and decides to increase the beta of the portfolio from 1.2 to 1.8. Then, the company should ( long , short ) __________ futures contracts.