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:

April 15 (initiation) May 15 June 15 July 15 August 15 (delivery)

173.00 179.75 189.00 182.50 174.25

Tommy Stamlano owns stock worth $80 per share. Stamlano buys a put option with a strike price of $70 for $1.50. At expiration of the put option, the stock price is $65 per share. The profit or loss from Stamlano’s portfolio insurance strategy is a: