单选题 It is April 15, and a trader is entered into a short position in two soybean meal futures contracts. The contracts expire on August 15, and call for the delivery of 100 tons of soybean meal each. Further, because this is a futures position, it requires the posting of a $ 3000 initial margin and a $1500 maintenance margin per contract. For simplicity, however, assume that the account is marked to market on a monthly basis. Assume the following represent the contract delivery prices (in dollars per ton) that prevail on each settlement date:

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】Use the following steps to calculate the margin account balance as of May 15. At initiation: (Beginning Balance, April 15) Initial margin×number of contracts=3000×2=6000; Maintenance margin×number of contracts=1500×2=3000. As of May 15: (Ending contract price per ton-beginning contract price per ton)×tons per contract×contracts=(179.75-173.00)×100×2=1350. Since the trader is short, this amount is subtracted from the beginning margin balance, or 6000-1350=4650.