One theory about the daily changes in the closing price of a stock is that these changes follow a random walk-that is, these daily events are independent of each other and move upward or downward in a random manner-and can be approximated by a normal distribution. To test this theory, use either a newspaper or the Internet to select one company traded on the NYSE, one company traded on the American Stock Exchange, and one company traded on the NASDAQ and then do the following:
1. Record the daily closing stock price of each of these companies for six consecutive weeks (so that you have 30 values per company).
2. Calculate the daily changes in the closing stock price of each of these companies for six consecutive weeks (so that you have 30 values per company).
Note: The random-walk theory pertains to the daily changes in the closing stock price, not the daily closing stock price.
For each of your six data sets, decide whether the data are approximately normally distributed by
a. constructing the stem-and-leaf display, histogram or polygon, and boxplot.
b. comparing data characteristics to theoretical properties.
c. constructing a normal probability plot.
d. Discuss the results of (a) through (c). What can you say about your three stocks with respect to daily closing prices and daily changes in closing prices? Which, if any, of the data sets are approximately normally distributed?
> Although you should not expect a perfectly fitting model for any time-series data, you can consider the first differences, second differences, and percentage differences for a given series as guides in choosing an appropriate model. For this problem, use
> The data in CPI-U reflect the annual values of the consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) in the United States over the 54-year period 1965 through 2018, using 1982 through 1986 as the base period. This index measures the average change in
> The file Silver contains the following prices in London for an ounce of silver (in US$) on the last day of the year from 1999 to 2018: a. Plot the data. b. Compute a linear trend forecasting equation and plot the trend line. c. Compute a quadratic trend
> In 2017, the per capita consumption of bottled water in China was reported to be 25.46 gallons. Source: Data extracted from IBWA, "Bottled Water Market," bit.ly/2Jlmynt. Assume that the per capita consumption of bottled water in China is approximately no
> The average salary of Major League Baseball players on opening day from 2000 to 2019 is stored in MLB Salaries and in the following table. a. Plot the data. b. Compute a linear trend forecasting equation and plot the trend line. c. Compute a quadratic tr
> The file Auto Production contains the number of automobiles assembled in the United States (in thousands) from 1999 to 2018. Source: Data extracted from FRED, "Domestic Auto Production," bit.ly/2KH.KCpz. a. Plot the data. b. Compute a linear trend foreca
> What are the two main approaches in prescriptive analytics?
> The data shown in the following tab le and stored in Solar Power represent the yearly amount of solar power generated by utilities (in millions of kWh) in the United States from 2002 through 2018: a. Plot the data. b. Compute a linear trend forecasting e
> The data in Federal Receipts represent federal receipts from 1978 through 2018 in billions of current dollars, from individual and corporate income tax, social insurance, excise tax, estate and gift tax, customs duties, and federal reserve deposits. Sour
> Gross domestic product (GDP) is a major indicator of a nation's overall economic activity. It consists of personal consumption expenditures, gross domestic investment, net exports of goods and services, and government consumption expenditures. The file G
> The Super Bowl is a big viewing event watched by close to 200 million Americans, so it is also a big event for advertisers. The file Super Bowl Ad Rating contains the rating of ads that ran between the opening kickoff and the final whistle. Source: Data
> The following data, stored in Core Appliances, list the number of shipments of core major household appliances in the United States from 2000 to 2017 (in millions). a. Plot the time series. b. Fit a three-year moving average to the data and plot the resu
> The data below, stored in Computer Usage, represent the hours per day spent by American desktop and laptop users from 2008 to 2017. a. Plot the time series. b. Fit a three-year moving average to the data and plot the results. c. Using a smoothing coeffic
> The file Travel and Tourism contains 2018 travel and tourism industry data for a sample of 28 European countries. Variables included are travel and tourism jobs (in thousands), nights spent by European residents at tourism establishments (in millions), e
> The American Community Survey (www.census.gov/acs) provides data every year about communities in the United States. Addresses are randomly selected, and respondents are required to supply answers to a series of questions. a. Which of the sources of data
> The following table contains the probability distribution for the number of traffic accidents per day in a small town: a. Calculate the mean number of accidents per day. b. Calculate the standard deviation. c. What is the probability that there will be a
> Referring to the results from Problem 2.100 concerning the weights of Boston and Vermont shingles, write a report that evaluates whether the weights of the pallets of the two types of shingles are what the company expects. Be sure to incorporate tables a
> Cross-classify each student in the class by gender (male, female) and current employment status (yes, no) so that the instructor can tally the results. a. Construct a table with either row or column percentages, depending on which you think is more infor
> How much time per week are employees willing to devote to improve their overall health and well-being by pursuing activities such as consistent exercise, researching healthy recipes, or engaging in wellness coaching? A study by UnitedHealthcare revealed
> Have each student in the class respond to the question, "Which carbonated soft drink do you most prefer?" so that the instructor can tally the results into a summary table. a. Convert the data to percentages and construct a Pareto chart. b. Analyze the f
> The file Natural Gas contains the U.S. monthly average commercial and residential price for natural gas in dollars per thousand cubic feet from January 2008 through December 2018. Source: Data extracted from "U.S. Natural Gas Prices," eia.org, March 30,
> College basketball in the United States is big business with television contracts in the billions of dollars and coaches' salaries in the millions of dollars. The file Coaches Pay contains the total pay for coaches for a recent year and whether the schoo
> Download speed of an Internet connection is of great importance to both individuals and businesses in a community. The file City Download Speeds contains the download speed in Mbps for 100 United States cities with the fastest download speeds. Source: Da
> The file CD Rates contains the yields for one-year certificates of deposit (CDs) and for five-year CDs for 46 financial institutions selling CDs in Lake Worth, Florida, as of April 5, 2019. Source: Data extracted and compiled from www.bankrate.com, April
> The Super Bowl, watched by close to 200 million Americans, is also a big event for advertisers. The file contains the rating of ads that ran between the opening kick-off and the final whistle. Source: Data extracted from www.admeter.usatoday.com/results/
> Using the data of Problem 15.6, stored in Honda Prices perform a natural logarithm transformation of the dependent variable (price). Using the transformed dependent variable and the age as the independent variable, perform a regression analysis. a. State
> The file Domestic Beer contains the percentage alcohol, number of calories per 12 ounces, and number of carbohydrates (in grams) per 12 ounces for 157 of the bestselling domestic beers in the United States. Source: Data extracted from www.beer100.com/bee
> The Air Travel Consumer Report, a monthly product of the Department of Transportation's Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (OAEP), is designed to assist consumers with information on the quality of services provided by airlines. The report in
> B2B marketers in North America were surveyed about content marketing usage, organization, and success. Content marketers were asked about how content marketing is structured within their organization and how they would describe their organization's commi
> The following table stored in Movie Types represents the market share (in number of movies, gross in millions of dollars, and millions of tickets sold) of each type of movie in 2018: a. Construct a bar chart, a pie chart, a doughnut chart, and a Pareto c
> How does clustering differ from association analysis?
> Referring to the results of Problems 9.76 through 9.78 concerning Boston and Vermont shingles, write a report that evaluates the moisture level, weight, and granule loss of the two types of shingles. Data from Problem 9.76: An important quality characte
> Teachers' Retirement System of the City of New York offers several types of investments for its members. Among the choices are investments with fixed and variable rates of return. There are several categories of variable-return investments. The Diversifi
> The file McDonalds contains the gross revenues (in billions of current dollars) of McDonald's Corporation from 1975 through 2018: a. Plot the data. b. Compute the linear trend forecasting equation. c. Compute the quadratic trend forecasting equation. d.
> The U.S. Department of Labor gathers and publishes statistics concerning the tabor market. The file Workforce contains the size of the U.S. civilian non institutional population of people 16 years and over (in thousands) and the U.S. civilian non institu
> A market researcher for a consumer electronics company wants to study the media viewing behaviour of residents of a particular area. A random sample of 40 respondents is selected, and each respondent is instructed to keep a detailed record of time spent
> Is there full support for increased use of educational technologies in higher ed? As part of Inside Higher Ed's 2018 Survey of Faculty Attitudes on Technology, academic professionals, namely, full-time faculty members and administrators who oversee their
> The file Domestic Beer contains the percentage alcohol, number of calories per 12 ounces, and number of carbohydrates (in grams) per 12 ounces for 157 of the best-selling domestic beers in the United States. Source: Data extracted from bit.ly/IA4E6AF, Ap
> A 2019 PwC survey of l,000 U.S. executives indicated that artificial intelligence (Al) is no longer seen as a side project. Eighty percent of U.S. CEOs think AI will significantly change the way they will do business in the next five years. At the same t
> Refer to the room service experiment in Problem 11.40. Now suppose that the results are as shown below and stored in Breakfast Results. Repeat (a) through (e), using these data, and compare the results to those of (a) through (e) of Problem 11.40. Data
> How much time do commuters living in or near cities spend commuting to work each week? The file Commuting Time contains the average weekly commuting time in 30 U.S. cities. Source: Data extracted from factfinder.census.gov. For the weekly commuting time
> Suppose that, when setting up the experiment in Problem 11.38, the operations manager is able to study the effect of side-to-side aspect in addition to air-jet pressure. Thus, instead of the one-factor completely randomized design in Problem 11.38, a two
> In 2016 through 2018, the value of precious metals fluctuated greatly. The data (stored in Metals) represent the total rate of return (in percentage) for platinum, gold, and silver from 2016 through 2018: a. Compute the geometric mean rate of return per
> Medical wires are used in the manufacture of cardiovascular devices. A study was conducted to determine the effect of several factors on the ratio of the load on a test specimen (YS) to the ultimate tensile strength (UTS). The file Medical Wires 1 contai
> Webrooming, researching products online before buying them in store, has become the new norm for some consumers and contrasts with showrooming, researching products in a physical store before purchasing online. A recent study by Interactions reported tha
> College basketball in the United States is big business with television contracts in the billions of dollars and coaches' salaries in the millions of dollars. The file Coaches Pay contains the total coaches pay for a recent year and whether the school wa
> Deanna Oxender Burgess of Florida Gulf Coast University conducted research about corporate annual reports (see D. Rosato, "Worried About Corporate Numbers? How About the Charts?" nyti.ms/2Ged1Qu). Burgess found that even slight distortions in a chart cha
> Using the data of Problem 15.4, stored in Domestic Beer, perform a natural logarithmic transformation of the dependent variable (calories). Using the transformed dependent variable and the percentage of alcohol and the number of carbohydrates as the inde
> Bring to class a chart from a website, newspaper, or magazine published recently that you believe to be a poorly drawn representation of a numerical variable. Be prepared to submit the chart to the instructor with comments about why you believe it is ina
> Bring to class a chart from a website, newspaper, or magazine published this month that you believe to be a poorly drawn representation of a categorical variable. Be prepared to submit the chart to the instructor with comments about why you consider it i
> In hypothesis testing, the common level of significance is α = 0.05. Some might argue for a level of significance greater than 0.05. Suppose that web designers tested the proportion of potential web page visitors with a preference for a new web design ov
> Referring to the results in Problem 8.66 concerning the answer time of calls, write a report that summarizes your conclusions. Data from Problem 8.66: Call centres today play an important role in managing day-to-day business communications with customer
> The file Indices contains data that represent the total rate of return percentage for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), the Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500), and the technology-heavy NASDAQ Composite (NASDAQ) from 2015 through 2018. a. Compute the
> Consider the following contingency table: What is the probability of event; a. A? b. A'? c. A and B? d. A or B?
> One of the major measures of the quality of service provided by an organization is the speed with which it responds to customer complaints. A large family-held department store selling furniture and flooring, including carpet, had undergone a major expan
> The monthly commercial and residential prices for natural gas (dollars per thousand cubic feet) in the United States from January 2008 through May are stored in Natural Gas. Source: Data extracted from Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department o
> An Ipsos poll asked 1,004 adults, "If purchasing a used car made certain upgrades or features more affordable, what would be your preferred luxury upgrade?" The results indicated that 9% of males and 14% of females answered window tinting. Source: lpsos,
> The download and upload speeds of a mobile data carrier is of great interest to both individual and business users. The file City Download Speeds contains the average download speeds in Mbps for 100 cities in the United States. Source: Data extracted fro
> As a consultant to an investment company trading in various currencies, you have been assigned the task of studying long-term trends in the exchange rates of the Canadian dollar, the Japanese yen, and the English pound. Data from 1980 to 2018 are stored
> The American Society for Quality (ASQ) conducted a salary survey of all its members. ASQ members work in all areas of manufacturing and service-related institutions, with a common theme of an interest in quality. Two job titles are black belt and green b
> Scarlett and Heather, the owners of an upscale restaurant in Dayton, Ohio, want to study the dining characteristics of their customers. They decide to focus on two variables: the amount of money spent by customers and whether customers order dessert. The
> The branch manager of an outlet (Store I) of a nationwide chain of pet supply stores wants to study characteristics of her customers. In particular, she decides to focus on two variables: the amount of money spent by customers and whether the customers o
> The financial impact of IT systems downtime is a concern of plant operations management today. A survey of manufacturers examined the satisfaction level with the reliability and availability of their manufacturing IT applications. The variables of focus
> A national association devoted to HR and workplace programs, practices, and training wants to study HR department practices and employee turnover of its member organizations. HR professionals and organization executives focus on turnover not only because
> The human resource (HR) director of a large corporation wishes to study absenteeism among its mid-level managers at its central office during the year. A random sample of 25 mid-level managers reveals the following: Absenteeism: X = 6.2 days, S = 7.3 day
> In Problem 13.8, you used annual revenues to predict the current value of a MLB baseball team, using the data stored in MLB Values. Using the results of that problem, a. Determine the coefficient of determination, r2, and interpret its meaning. b. Determ
> An information technology (IT) provider of cloud backup and restore solutions for small to midsize businesses wants to study the consequences of ransom ware attacks. A random sample of 50 small to midsized companies in the United States that have experie
> A recent Timetric's survey of insurance professionals explores the use of technology in the industry. The file Technologies contains the responses to the question that asked what technologies these professionals expected to be most used by the insurance
> If X = 125, σ= 24, and n = 36, construct a 99% confidence interval estimate for the population mean, µ.
> Convert the following p-functions to molar concentrations: pH = 1.102. pOH = 0.0057. pBr = 7.77. pCa = -0.221. pLi = 12.35. pNO3 = 0.054. pMn = 0.135. pCl = 8.92.
> Refer to the data in the exercise 11-22. Use diagrams similar to those in Exhibits 11–6 and 11–8 to compute the variable-overhead spending and efficiency variances, and the fixed-overhead budget and volume variances.
> Crystal Glassware Company has the following standards and flexible-budget data. Standard variable-overhead rate ………………â€&br
> Refer to Exercise 10–31. Set up T-accounts, and post the journal entries to the general ledger. Data from Exercise 10-31: Refer to the data in Exercise 10–22, regarding Saskatewan Can Company. Prepare journal entries
> Refer to the data in Exercise 10–22, regarding Saskatewan Can Company. Prepare journal entries to: 1. Record the purchase of direct material on account. 2. Add direct-material and direct-labor cost to Work-in-Process Inventory. 3. Re
> Part of your company’s accounting database was destroyed when Godzilla attacked the city. You have been able to gather the following data from your files. Reconstruct the remaining information using the available data. All of the raw ma
> Fresno fibre Optics, Inc., manufactures fibre optic cables for the computer and telecommunications industries. At the request of the company vice president of marketing, the cost management staff has recently completed a customer-profitability study. The
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> Allegheny Community Hospital is a non-profit hospital operated by the county. The hospital’s administrator is considering a proposal to open a new outpatient clinic in the nearby city of New Castle. The administrator has made the following estimates pert
> Winner’s Circle, Inc., manufactures medals for winners of athletic events and other contests. Its manufacturing plant has the capacity to produce 10,000 medals each month. Current monthly production is 7,500 medals. The company normally
> Graydon, Inc., manufactures food blending machinery according to customer specifications. The company operated at 75 percent of practical capacity during the year just ended, with the following results (in thousands): Graydon, which expects continued ope
> Go online and use Google or another search engine to find several current news articles about SOX. Read three of these articles, and then summarize them for your classmates.
> Tipton One-Stop Decorating sells paint and paint supplies, carpet, and wallpaper at a single-store location in suburban Des Moines. Although the company has been very profitable over the years, management has seen a significant decline in wallpaper sales
> Refer to the original data given in the preceding problem for Tulsa Medical Supply Company. Required: 1. Calculate the unit cost of a production order for 100 specially coated plates used in cancer testing. In addition to direct material costing $120 pe
> The controller for Tulsa Medical Supply Company has established the following activity cost pools and cost drivers. An order for 1,000 boxes of medical-testing agent has the following production requirements. Required: 1. Compute the total overhead that
> Alpha Communications, Inc., which produces telecommunications equipment in the United States, has a very strong local market for its circuit board. The variable production cost is $130, and the company can sell its entire supply domestically for $170. Th
> Chillco Corporation produces containers of frozen food. During April, Chillco produced 1,450 cases of food and incurred the following actual costs. Overhead is budgeted and applied using direct-labor hours in a standard costing system. Standard cost and
> Condensed monthly income data for Thurber Book Stores are presented in the following table for November 20x1. (Ignore income taxes.) Additional Information: Management estimates that closing the downtown store would result in a 10 percent decrease in mal
> Madison County Airport handles several daily commuter flights and many private flights. The county budget officer has compiled the following data regarding airport costs and activity over the past year. Required: 1. Draw a scatter diagram of the airport
> Cape Cod Lobster Shacks, Inc. (CCLS), is a seafood restaurant chain operating throughout the northeast. The company has two sources of long-term capital: debt and equity. The cost to CCLS of issuing debt is the after-tax cost of the interest payments on
> Ontario, Inc., manufactures two products, Standard and Enhanced, and applies overhead on the basis of direct-labor hours. Anticipated overhead and direct-labor time for the upcoming accounting period are $800,000 and 25,000 hours, respectively. Informati
> Refer to the organization chart for Rocky Mountain General Hospital given in the preceding problem. Ignore the rest of the data in that problem. The following table shows the cost allocation bases used to distribute various costs among the hospitalâ
> Can the CEO of a large company really be expected to know what is going on at all levels in the organization? In various court cases, CEOs have argued that they could not be held accountable for the actions of others in their companies. As a group, stage
> LawnMate Company manufactures power mowers that are sold throughout the United States and Canada. The company uses a comprehensive budgeting process and compares actual results to budgeted amounts on a monthly basis. Each month, LawnMateâ€
> Valdosta Chemical Company manufactures two industrial chemical products in a joint process. In May, 10,000 gallons of input costing $60,000 were processed at a cost of $150,000. The joint process resulted in 8,000 pounds of Resoline and 2,000 pounds of K
> Wyalusing Industries has manufactured prefabricated houses for over 20 years. The houses are constructed in sections to be assembled on customers’ lots. Wyalusing expanded into the precut housing market when it acquired Fairmont Company
> Countywide Cable Services, Inc., is organized with three segments: Metro, Suburban, and Outlying. Data for these segments for the year just ended follow. In addition to the expenses listed above, the company has $95,000 of common fixed expenses. Income-t
> Office King Corporation manufactures three different models of paper shredders including the waste container that serves as the base. While the shredder heads are different for the three models, the waste container is the same. The number of waste contai
> The board of education for the Central Catskill School District is considering the acquisition of several minibuses for use in transporting students to school. Five of the school district’s bus routes are underpopulated, with the result that the full-siz
> Zylar Industries is a manufacturer of standard and custom-designed bottling equipment. Early in December 20x0, Lyan Company asked Zylar to quote a price for a custom-designed bottling machine to be delivered in April. Lyan intends to make a decision on t
> Alberta Gauge Company, Ltd., a small manufacturing company in Calgary, Alberta, manufactures three types of electrical gauges used in a variety of machinery. For many years the company has been profitable and has operated at capacity. However, in the las