Questions: The treasurer for Pittsburgh Iron Works wishes to use financial futures to hedge her interest rate exposure. She will sell five Treasury futures contracts at 107,000 per contract. It is July and the contracts must be closed out in December of this year. Long-term interest rates are currently 7.30 percent. If they increase to 8.50 percent, assume the value of the contracts will go down by 10 percent. Also, if interest rates do increase by 1.2 percent, assume the firm will have additional interest expense on its business loans and other commitments of 63,000. This expense, of course, will be separate from the futures contracts. a. What will be the profit or loss on the futures contract if interest rates increase to 8.50 percent by December when the contract is closed out? b-1. After considering the hedging, what is the net cost to the firm of the increased interest expense of 63,000?

The treasurer for Pittsburgh Iron Works wishes to use financial futures to hedge her interest rate exposure. She will sell five Treasury futures contracts at 107,000 per contract. It is July and the contracts must be closed out in December of this year. Long-term interest rates are currently 7.30 percent. If they increase to 8.50 percent, assume the value of the contracts will go down by 10 percent. Also, if interest rates do increase by 1.2 percent, assume the firm will have additional interest expense on its business loans and other commitments of 63,000. This expense, of course, will be separate from the futures contracts.

a. What will be the profit or loss on the futures contract if interest rates increase to 8.50 percent by December when the contract is closed out?

b-1. After considering the hedging, what is the net cost to the firm of the increased interest expense of 63,000?
Transcript text: The treasurer for Pittsburgh Iron Works wishes to use financial futures to hedge her interest rate exposure. She will sell five Treasury futures contracts at $\$ 107,000$ per contract. It is July and the contracts must be closed out in December of this year. Long-term interest rates are currently 7.30 percent. If they increase to 8.50 percent, assume the value of the contracts will go down by 10 percent. Also, if interest rates do increase by 1.2 percent, assume the firm will have additional interest expense on its business loans and other commitments of $\$ 63,000$. This expense, of course, will be separate from the futures contracts. a. What will be the profit or loss on the futures contract if interest rates increase to 8.50 percent by December when the contract is closed out? \begin{tabular}{|l|l|l} $\square$ & on futures contracts \\ \hline \end{tabular} b-1. After considering the hedging, what is the net cost to the firm of the increased interest expense of $\$ 63,000$ ? Net cost $\square$
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Solution

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Solution Steps

To solve this problem, we need to follow these steps:

a. Calculate the profit or loss on the futures contract:

  1. Determine the initial value of the futures contracts.
  2. Calculate the decrease in value of the contracts if they go down by 10%.
  3. Compute the total loss by multiplying the decrease in value by the number of contracts.

b-1. Calculate the net cost to the firm after considering the hedging:

  1. Determine the total loss on the futures contracts.
  2. Subtract this loss from the increased interest expense to find the net cost.
Step 1: Calculate the Initial Total Value of the Futures Contracts

The initial value of each futures contract is \$107,000. Since there are 5 contracts, the initial total value is: \[ \text{Initial Total Value} = 107,000 \times 5 = 535,000 \]

Step 2: Calculate the Decrease in Value of the Futures Contracts

If the value of the contracts decreases by 10%, the decrease in value is: \[ \text{Decrease in Value} = 535,000 \times 0.10 = 53,500 \]

Step 3: Calculate the Profit or Loss on the Futures Contracts

The loss on the futures contracts is equal to the decrease in value: \[ \text{Profit or Loss on Futures} = -53,500 \]

Step 4: Calculate the Net Cost to the Firm After Considering the Hedging

The increased interest expense is \$63,000. The net cost to the firm after considering the hedging is: \[ \text{Net Cost} = 63,000 + (-53,500) = 9,500 \]

Final Answer

\(\boxed{-53,500}\)

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