Place the information described in this stage in the worksheet titled "Analysis".

Step 1) Calculate the arithmetic average periodic return and standard deviation of periodic returns for all four stocks, the S&P 500, your two "combined asset portfolios, and the T-bill.  Use the "average" function for the arithmetic average and the "stdev" function for standard deviation. Also compute the geometric average as

                        =((endingcumul ret/beginning cumul ret)^(1/# of returns)) - 1

Step 2) Calculate the arithmetic averages and standard deviations separately for the sub-periods listed in the 2^nd table in the Analysis worksheet.

Step 3)Build a table of correlations similar to the table below for the correlations among ALL of the INDIVIDUAL stock returns and the S&P 500 returns (the following table is an example for several stocks; however, the data is old so don't expect to get these answers).  IGNORE YOUR 2 "COMBINED-ASSET" PORTFOLIO FOR THIS STEP.

The formula for calculating the correlations is the "Correl" function.  To use this function, open the function box and then choose the correlation function.  When the dialog box opens, select the data in pairs with the asset appearing in the left column being the "y's" and the assets appearing across the top being your "x's."  Alternatively, just type "=correl(" and follow Excel's prompts. You will need to do this for each asset pair; however, you do not need to complete the top half since it is a mirror image of the bottom half.  Use the available data for each pair of stocks.