The file A1Q1 contains data for the percentage change in the price of 50 shares selected at random from the Australian Stock Exchange. The data refer to the percentage change in the share price between the start of trading and the close of trading on Friday 22nd February 2008.
a) Imagine that you had to purchase one of these shares as soon as trading commenced on that day, and then sell it just before trading closed on that day. Which share would havegiven you the highest return (yield), and which the lowest return (yield)?
b) Use Excel to construct a histogram of these data. Use upper-class limits (Excel's Bins) of -4, - 2.5, -1, 0.5, 2, 3.5, 5, 6.5. Once you have the histogram, remove the gaps between the bars.
c) Is the histogram: (a) symmetric, (b) positively skewed or (c) negatively skewed? Explain your choice.
d) Use the HISTOGRAM to ESTIMATE the proportion of shares with a negative return. [You are expected to estimate the proportion of shares with a negative return by estimating the number of shares with returns less than 0. You may need to estimate the proportion of negative returns in the class -1 to 0.5.]
e) Was it a good day to buy and sell shares?