Write a paper answering the following two questions:
- 1. By what amount will the market value of a Treasury bond futures contract change if interest rates rise from 5 to 5.25 percent? The underlying Treasury bond has a duration of 10.48 years and the Treasury bond futures contract is currently being quoted at 113-06. (Remember that Treasury bonds are quoted in 32nds.)
- 2. Morning View National Bank reports that its assets have a duration of 7 years and its liabilities average 1.75 years in duration. To hedge this duration gap, management plans to employ Treasury bond futures, which are currently quoted at 112-170 and have a duration of 10.36 years. Morning View's latest financial report shows total assets of $100 million and liabilities of $88 million. Approximately how many futures contracts will the bank need to cover its overall exposure?