Future contract #1 Ostrich meat 1. This is a future contract of 60,000 lbs. ostrich meat traded in $0.0001/lb. in Dec., Mar., Jul. and Sep. The seller has to deliver USDA frozen 75-100 pound Grade A ostrich carcasses. The daily Price cannot be $0.05/lb. above or below the previous day’s settlement price.

2. i) According to world – ostrich organization (http://www.world-ostrich.org/demand.htm), the current demand for ostrich meat is way far more than supply. Therefore, there will be a constantly increase in the price of ostrich meat. Investors are reluctant to take short positions of ostrich meat futures; however, there would be a lot of people willing to take long positions. Thus, the long positions will be in far excess of short positions. Was the market exist, it would not be balanced. ii) Breeders of the ostrich meat, such as rancher, who tend to avoid the risk of ostrich disease or to offset the rising of feed price, will undertake short position of the future contract. The users of the ostrich meat, such as the food processor, who expect the price to rise, will undertake long position. For example, an investor who expects the ostrich meat to be in excess of demand will long the contract.

3. i) The deliverable grades of the contract are specific, it includes the weight, grade, and the pack standard of the meat, this will help the contract to be better executed. ii) The daily price limit of each contract is 5 cents per pound ($3,000/contract) above or below the previous day’s settlement price (expendable to $0,075/lb) which could secure the loss of both sellers and buyers. 4. i) The trading unit of 60,000 lbs. is not appropriate for a meat contract; this number is too high to be accepted by investors. Generally, the volume of each meat contract is no more than 50,000 lbs. According to statistics, the trading unit for pork or beef varies