The standard deviation of monthly changes in the spot price of live cattle is 1.8 cents per pound. The standard deviation of monthly changes in the futures price of live cattle for the closest contract is 1.6 cents per pound. The correlation between the futures price changes and the spot price changes is 0.8. It is now October 8. A beef producer is committed to purchasing 2,000,000 pounds of live cattle in one month. The producer wants to use the December live-cattle futures contracts to hedge its risk. Each contract is for the delivery of 40,000 pounds of cattle. (a) The minimum-variance hedge ratio is __________. (b) The beef producer can take a ( long , short ) position in __________ December futures contracts. (*Circle the correct one, and fill in the blank with a number. If the optimal number of contracts is not an integer, please round off the number to the nearest whole number.)