Suppose that on March 1 you take a short position in a June crude oil futures contract at $20/barrel (contract size=1,000 barrels)

a. How much cash or risk-free securities would you have to deposit to satisfy an initial margin requirement of 5% of the contract value?

b. If the maintenance margin is 3% of the contract value. Calculate the values of your margin account on the following days and identify when you will receive the margin calls, given the following settlement prices:

3/2$20.50

3/3$20.75

3/4$20.25

3/5$19.50