The standard deviation of monthly changes in the spot price of live cattle is (in cents per pound) 1.2. The standard deviation of monthly changes in the futures price of live cattle for the closest contract is 1.4. The correlation between the futures price changes and the spot price changes is 0.7. It is now October 15. A beef producer is committed to purchasing 200,000 pounds of live cattle on November 15. The producer wants to use the December live cattle futures contracts to hedge its risk. Each contract is for the delivery of 40,000 pounds of cattle. What strategy should the beef producer follow?

The next dividend payment by savitz, inc., will be $2.08 per share. the dividends are anticipated to maintain a growth rate of 6 percent forever. if the stock currently sells for $42 per share, what is the required return?

Ajustification for job training programs is that they improve worker productivity. suppose that you are asked to evaluate whether more job training makes workers more productive. however, rather than having data on individual workers, you have access to data on manufacturing firms in ohio. in particu- lar, for each firm, you have information on hours of job training per worker (training) and number of nondefective items produced per worker hour (output). (i) carefully state the ceteris paribus thought experiment underlying this policy question. (ii) does it seem likely that a firm’s decision to train its workers will be independent of worker characteristics? what are some of those measurable and unmeasurable worker characteristics? (iii) name a factor other than worker characteristics that can affect worker productivity. (iv) if you find a positive correlation between output and training, would you have convincingly established that job training makes workers more productive? explain.

Last week paul, ceo of quality furniture in south carolina, traveled to europe to visit customers. while overseas, paul checked his e-mail daily and showed his company's website to customers, explaining how the website will them place orders and receive merchandise more quickly. after visiting the last customer friday morning, paul was able to return to the corporate office in south carolina to meet with his board of directors that night. is the "shrinking" of time and space with air travel and electronic media.