a. Compute the average return for each of the assets from

1929

to

1940

(the Great Depression).b. Compute the variance and standard deviation for each of the assets from

1929

to

1940.

c. Which asset was riskiest during the Great Depression? How does that fit with your intuition?

Note:

Notice that the answers for average return, variance and standard deviation must be entered in decimal format.

Click on the following icon

in order to copy its contents into a spreadsheet.)

Yearly returns from 1929-1940 for the S&P 500, small stocks, corporate bonds, world portfolio, Treasury bills, and inflation (as measured by the CPI).
Year	S&P 500	Small Stocks	Corp Bonds	World Portfolio	Treasury Bills	CPI
1929	minus0.08907		minus0.50467		0.04321		minus0.07692		0.04737		0.00746
1930	minus0.25257		minus0.45583		0.06343		minus0.22574		0.02347		minus0.06420
1931	minus0.43858		minus0.50216		minus0.02380		minus0.39305		0.01023		minus0.09235
1932	minus0.08861		0.08696		0.12198		0.03030		0.00806		minus0.10465
1933	0.52895		1.87200		0.05255		0.66449		0.00293		0.00974
1934	minus0.02341		0.25209		0.09728		0.02552		0.00155		0.01286
1935	0.47208		0.64739		0.06860		0.22782		0.00165		0.03175
1936	0.32801		0.87508		0.06220		0.19283		0.00175		0.01231
1937	minus0.35258		minus0.53403		0.02546		minus0.16950		0.00319		0.03040
1938	0.33199		0.26275		0.04357		0.05614		0.00041		minus0.02950
1939	minus0.00910		0.00184		0.04247		minus0.01441		0.00008		0.00000
1940	minus0.10082		minus0.12340		0.04512		0.03528		minus0.00058		0.00912