INV4 3e Sitting on a beach in Florida early in May, a savvy investor recognizes that the sun beating down indicates a banner year for the US corn crop, which in turn portends an excess supply. Basic...

INV4 3e

Sitting on a beach in Florida early in May, a savvy investor recognizes that the sun beating down indicates a banner year for the US corn crop, which in turn portends an excess supply.

Basic supply and demand analysis suggested to her that the corn price was very likely to go down. But the Farmer’s Almanac had predicted a wet and rainy summer, which convinced many corn analysts that corn prices would be climbing throughout the summer.

To take advantage of this sun-inspired observation, our savvy investor sold short
six
contracts of August corn futures. The price per bushel was $1.62, and each contract was for 5000 bushels.  The initial margin deposit is $3000 per contract with the maintenance margin at $2250.

If the investor kept her position, and the futures price on the fifth day was 1.80, would the investor face a margin call? If yes, how much would she need to put up?