Logically, even if he shorted 20,000 international crude oil futures contracts, he shouldn't have faced a margin call, since he was shorting from a high point.
But what if being too aggressive triggers some unforeseen event? Yi Anguo was still a bit worried, so he decided to short only 10,000 contracts. After all, there would be plenty of opportunities to make money later on. The years 2006, 2007, and 2008 were periods of significant volatility in international crude oil futures prices. If one could grasp the trends of these market fluctuations, how could it be difficult to make money?
Fortunately, the trajectory of international crude oil futures didn't seem to change just because he shorted 10,000 contracts. Or perhaps it did change, but Yi Anguo wasn't aware. As long as the broader trend remained downward and didn't reverse, it wasn't an issue.
