Apple:

Date	Open	High	Low	Close	Adj Close	Volume
1/1/2016	25.6525	26.4625	23.0975	24.335	22.27825	5.09E+09
2/1/2016	24.1175	24.7225	23.1475	24.1725	22.12948	3.24E+09
3/1/2016	24.4125	27.605	24.355	27.2475	25.07994	2.98E+09
4/1/2016	27.195	28.0975	23.1275	23.435	21.57073	3.49E+09
5/1/2016	23.4925	25.1825	22.3675	24.965	22.97902	3.6E+09
6/1/2016	24.755	25.4725	22.875	23.9	22.13268	3.12E+09
7/1/2016	23.8725	26.1375	23.5925	26.0525	24.126	2.74E+09
8/1/2016	26.1025	27.5575	26	26.525	24.56357	2.52E+09
9/1/2016	26.535	29.045	25.6325	28.2625	26.31437	3.87E+09
10/1/2016	28.1775	29.6725	28.07	28.385	26.42842	2.75E+09
11/1/2016	28.365	28.4425	26.02	27.63	25.72546	2.89E+09
12/1/2016	27.5925	29.505	27.0625	28.955	27.09755	2.44E+09
1/1/2017	28.95	30.61	28.69	30.3375	28.39136	2.25E+09
2/1/2017	31.7575	34.37	31.7525	34.2475	32.05054	2.3E+09
3/1/2017	34.4725	36.125	34.2625	35.915	33.75679	2.25E+09
4/1/2017	35.9275	36.365	35.015	35.9125	33.75443	1.49E+09
5/1/2017	36.275	39.1625	36.0675	38.19	35.89508	2.62E+09
6/1/2017	38.2925	38.995	35.55	36.005	33.98106	2.74E+09
7/1/2017	36.22	38.4975	35.6025	37.1825	35.09237	1.69E+09
8/1/2017	37.275	41.13	37.1025	41	38.69528	2.64E+09
9/1/2017	41.2	41.235	37.29	38.53	36.50693	2.72E+09
10/1/2017	38.565	42.4125	38.115	42.26	40.04108	2.02E+09
11/1/2017	42.4675	44.06	41.32	42.9625	40.7067	2.4E+09
12/1/2017	42.4875	44.3	41.615	42.3075	40.23018	2.12E+09
1/1/2018	42.54	45.025	41.175	41.8575	39.80228	2.64E+09
2/1/2018	41.7925	45.155	37.56	44.53	42.34356	3.71E+09
3/1/2018	44.635	45.875	41.235	41.945	40.04812	2.85E+09
4/1/2018	41.66	44.735	40.1575	41.315	39.44659	2.66E+09
5/1/2018	41.6025	47.5925	41.3175	46.7175	44.60478	2.48E+09
6/1/2018	46.9975	48.55	45.1825	46.2775	44.35506	2.11E+09
7/1/2018	45.955	48.99	45.855	47.5725	45.59626	1.57E+09
8/1/2018	49.7825	57.2175	49.3275	56.9075	54.54347	2.8E+09
9/1/2018	57.1025	57.4175	53.825	56.435	54.2803	2.72E+09
10/1/2018	56.9875	58.3675	51.5225	54.715	52.62597	3.16E+09
11/1/2018	54.7625	55.59	42.565	44.645	42.94045	3.85E+09
12/1/2018	46.115	46.235	36.6475	39.435	38.0617	3.6E+09
1/1/2019	38.7225	42.25	35.5	41.61	40.16097	3.31E+09
2/1/2019	41.74	43.9675	41.4825	43.2875	41.78005	1.89E+09
3/1/2019	43.57	49.4225	42.375	47.4875	46.03035	2.6E+09
4/1/2019	47.91	52.12	47.095	50.1675	48.62812	2.02E+09
5/1/2019	52.47	53.8275	43.7475	43.7675	42.4245	2.96E+09
6/1/2019	43.9	50.3925	42.5675	49.48	48.14641	2.06E+09
7/1/2019	50.7925	55.3425	49.6025	53.26	51.82454	1.9E+09
8/1/2019	53.475	54.5075	48.145	52.185	50.77851	2.72E+09
9/1/2019	51.6075	56.605	51.055	55.9925	54.6904	2.17E+09
10/1/2019	56.2675	62.4375	53.7825	62.19	60.74378	2.43E+09
11/1/2019	62.385	67	62.29	66.8125	65.25878	1.79E+09
12/1/2019	66.8175	73.4925	64.0725	73.4125	71.92056	2.39E+09
1/1/2020	74.06	81.9625	73.1875	77.3775	75.805	2.93E+09
2/1/2020	76.075	81.805	64.0925	68.34	66.95115	3.02E+09
3/1/2020	70.57	76	53.1525	63.5725	62.42836	6.28E+09
4/1/2020	61.625	73.6325	59.225	73.45	72.12808	3.27E+09
5/1/2020	71.5625	81.06	71.4625	79.485	78.05447	2.81E+09
6/1/2020	79.4375	93.095	79.3025	91.2	89.80106	3.24E+09
7/1/2020	91.28	106.415	89.145	106.26	104.6301	3.02E+09
8/1/2020	108.2	131	107.8925	129.04	127.0606	4.07E+09
9/1/2020	132.76	137.98	103.1	115.81	114.2392	3.89E+09
10/1/2020	117.64	125.39	107.72	108.86	107.3834	2.89E+09
11/1/2020	109.11	121.99	107.32	119.05	117.4352	2.12E+09
12/1/2020	121.01	138.79	120.01	132.69	131.116	2.32E+09
1/1/2021	133.52	145.09	126.38	131.96	130.3947	2.24E+09
2/1/2021	133.75	137.88	118.39	121.26	119.8216	1.83E+09
3/1/2021	123.75	128.72	116.21	122.15	120.8814	2.65E+09
4/1/2021	123.66	137.07	122.49	131.46	130.0947	1.89E+09
5/1/2021	132.04	134.07	122.25	124.61	123.3159	1.71E+09
6/1/2021	125.08	137.41	123.13	136.96	135.7679	1.61E+09
7/1/2021	136.6	150	135.76	145.86	144.5904	1.92E+09
8/1/2021	146.36	153.49	144.5	151.83	150.5084	1.46E+09
9/1/2021	152.83	157.26	141.27	141.5	140.4785	1.8E+09
10/1/2021	141.9	153.17	138.27	149.8	148.7186	1.57E+09
11/1/2021	148.99	165.7	147.48	165.3	164.1067	1.69E+09

Walmart:

Date	Open	High	Low	Close	Adj Close	Volume
1/1/2016	60.5	66.53	60.2	66.36	57.58555	2.65E+08
2/1/2016	65.91	68.2	62.35	66.34	57.5682	2.63E+08
3/1/2016	66.65	69.19	64.88	68.49	59.43392	2.03E+08
4/1/2016	68.02	70.08	66.36	66.87	58.4577	1.41E+08
5/1/2016	66.62	71.38	62.72	70.78	61.87582	2.33E+08
6/1/2016	70.5	73.19	70.15	73.02	64.30139	1.86E+08
7/1/2016	73.13	74.35	72.42	72.97	64.25737	1.38E+08
8/1/2016	72.81	75.19	70.89	71.44	62.91005	2.12E+08
9/1/2016	71.57	73.19	70.3	72.12	63.94362	1.77E+08
10/1/2016	71.83	72.57	67.07	70.02	62.0817	1.71E+08
11/1/2016	69.98	72.09	68.12	70.43	62.44522	2.1E+08
12/1/2016	70.25	72.48	68.83	69.12	61.28375	1.63E+08
1/1/2017	69.24	69.63	65.28	66.74	59.5971	1.82E+08
2/1/2017	66.46	72.8	66.04	70.93	63.33865	2.08E+08
3/1/2017	70.97	72.56	69.33	72.08	64.36557	1.91E+08
4/1/2017	72.08	75.77	71.38	75.18	67.6274	1.28E+08
5/1/2017	75.09	79.44	74.96	78.6	70.70384	1.82E+08
6/1/2017	78.64	80.47	73.29	75.68	68.53275	2.48E+08
7/1/2017	75.84	80.34	73.13	79.99	72.43572	1.43E+08
8/1/2017	80.25	81.99	77.5	78.07	70.69705	2.04E+08
9/1/2017	78.31	81.12	77.73	78.14	71.2055	1.61E+08
10/1/2017	77.9	89.11	77.5	87.31	79.56175	1.99E+08
11/1/2017	87.07	100.13	87	97.23	88.60139	2.23E+08
12/1/2017	97.61	99.91	96.14	98.75	89.98651	1.67E+08
1/1/2018	99.3	109.98	98.52	106.6	97.65179	1.7E+08
2/1/2018	105.96	106.56	90	90.01	82.4544	3.08E+08
3/1/2018	90.17	90.5	85.28	88.97	81.50169	2.56E+08
4/1/2018	88	89.66	84.84	88.46	81.51764	1.64E+08
5/1/2018	87.67	88.1	81.78	82.54	76.06224	2.48E+08
6/1/2018	83.04	87.49	82.37	85.65	79.42541	1.86E+08
7/1/2018	85.65	89.66	83.4	89.23	82.74525	1.18E+08
8/1/2018	88.86	100.21	87.62	95.86	88.89339	2.06E+08
9/1/2018	95.8	97.66	93.69	93.91	87.59093	1.27E+08
10/1/2018	94.29	102.6	92.89	100.28	93.53228	2.16E+08
11/1/2018	99.96	106.21	93.31	97.65	91.07926	1.92E+08
12/1/2018	98.02	99.59	85.78	93.15	86.88207	1.86E+08
1/1/2019	91.64	99.35	91.64	95.83	89.86948	1.61E+08
2/1/2019	95.92	104.18	93.11	98.99	92.83293	1.67E+08
3/1/2019	99.47	100.49	95	97.53	91.46373	1.41E+08
4/1/2019	97.97	104.15	96.79	102.84	96.9624	1.11E+08
5/1/2019	102.77	103.96	98.85	101.44	95.6424	1.56E+08
6/1/2019	101.63	112.22	101.4	110.49	104.7286	1.22E+08
7/1/2019	111.3	115.49	109.63	110.38	104.6243	91286900
8/1/2019	110.32	115.38	104.84	114.26	108.302	1.58E+08
9/1/2019	113.68	119.86	113.49	118.68	113.0452	1.05E+08
10/1/2019	118.85	120.71	114.58	117.26	111.6927	96407600
11/1/2019	117.92	125.38	117.08	119.09	113.4358	1.17E+08
12/1/2019	119.15	122.12	117.42	118.84	113.1976	98422700
1/1/2020	118.86	119.89	112.68	114.49	109.5433	1.28E+08
2/1/2020	114.9	119.95	104.37	107.68	103.0276	1.32E+08
3/1/2020	107.6	128.08	102	113.62	108.7109	3.19E+08
4/1/2020	112.15	133.38	111.8	121.55	116.8129	2.07E+08
5/1/2020	121.48	131.99	120.78	124.06	119.2251	1.87E+08
6/1/2020	123.44	124.41	117.01	119.78	115.6182	1.86E+08
7/1/2020	119.45	134.13	118.22	129.4	124.904	1.97E+08
8/1/2020	129.91	141.07	128.27	138.85	134.0257	2.3E+08
9/1/2020	141.2	151.33	134.75	139.91	135.604	2.69E+08
10/1/2020	140.8	146.6	137.37	138.75	134.4797	1.29E+08
11/1/2020	140.59	153.4	139.03	152.79	148.0876	1.38E+08
12/1/2020	153.6	153.66	142.3	144.15	139.7135	1.7E+08
1/1/2021	144.3	149.93	140.35	140.49	136.6639	1.5E+08
2/1/2021	140.91	147.5	129.86	129.92	126.3818	1.85E+08
3/1/2021	131.58	137.59	126.28	135.83	132.1308	2.47E+08
4/1/2021	135.94	141.77	135.33	139.91	136.6679	1.53E+08
5/1/2021	139.68	144.58	135.76	142.03	138.7388	1.75E+08
6/1/2021	142.21	142.8	134.4	141.02	138.2932	1.69E+08
7/1/2021	140.41	143.86	138.22	142.55	139.7936	1.32E+08
8/1/2021	142.83	152.57	141.67	148.1	145.2363	1.81E+08
9/1/2021	147.56	149.65	139.25	139.38	137.1879	1.51E+08
10/1/2021	139.26	150.55	134.71	149.42	147.07	1.38E+08
11/1/2021	149.98	152	140.01	140.63	138.4182	1.78E+08

Goldman Sachs:

Date	Open	High	Low	Close	Adj Close	Volume
1/1/2016	175.79	177.5	151.12	161.56	142.8994	1E+08
2/1/2016	160.41	161	139.05	149.53	132.259	1.24E+08
3/1/2016	150.95	158.9	148.75	156.98	139.4518	88703100
4/1/2016	156.46	168.9	149.37	164.11	145.7856	71372200
5/1/2016	165.08	167.19	153.74	159.48	141.6726	58432900
6/1/2016	157.9	160.55	138.2	148.58	132.5308	84293800
7/1/2016	148.49	164.09	142.62	158.81	141.6557	65644400
8/1/2016	158.81	170.24	155.37	169.46	151.1553	50549000
9/1/2016	170	172.42	157.77	161.27	144.4125	55335600
10/1/2016	160.5	178.85	160.25	178.24	159.6087	58811600
11/1/2016	179	220.77	174.73	219.29	196.3677	90417900
12/1/2016	220.93	245.57	220.35	239.45	215.085	96096900
1/1/2017	242.7	247.77	228.16	229.32	205.9858	83814200
2/1/2017	230.51	252.65	227.05	248.06	222.8189	65167300
3/1/2017	253.71	255.15	220.85	229.72	206.8844	90305600
4/1/2017	230	232.89	213.18	223.8	201.5529	81431200
5/1/2017	224.9	228.89	209.62	211.26	190.2594	71757000
6/1/2017	212.61	228.79	210.79	221.9	200.5146	74347400
7/1/2017	224.46	230.64	218	225.33	203.614	63113900
8/1/2017	227.09	235.83	215.75	223.74	202.1773	60429700
9/1/2017	224.55	237.6	214.64	237.19	215.063	55573100
10/1/2017	237.2	247.08	235.19	242.48	219.8595	59100600
11/1/2017	243.89	250.79	233.55	247.64	224.5382	54376000
12/1/2017	249.78	262.14	244.01	254.76	231.7198	53592500
1/1/2018	257.77	273.79	248.84	267.89	243.6624	80616900
2/1/2018	266.15	273.12	239.29	262.93	239.1509	72971300
3/1/2018	262.61	275.31	244.37	251.86	229.7252	62342400
4/1/2018	251.26	262.5	237.51	238.33	217.3842	76273900
5/1/2018	237.51	245.88	224.09	225.88	206.0284	63073600
6/1/2018	228.4	238.23	219.12	220.57	201.8966	60707000
7/1/2018	219.75	239.73	218.89	237.43	217.3292	62274700
8/1/2018	238.5	245.08	226.57	237.81	217.677	58750500
9/1/2018	237.76	239.45	223.8	224.24	205.9356	48635800
10/1/2018	226.22	231.4	208.4	225.37	206.9733	79100600
11/1/2018	225.76	234.06	188.12	190.69	175.1242	84619000
12/1/2018	194	195.66	151.7	167.05	154.0352	99800200
1/1/2019	164.33	203.29	163.35	198.01	182.5831	89708600
2/1/2019	198	201.5	188.22	196.7	181.3752	49619100
3/1/2019	198.75	206.45	186.5	191.99	177.747	62988100
4/1/2019	194	209.97	193.61	205.92	190.6436	63471300
5/1/2019	206.4	208.75	182.31	182.49	168.9518	51152900
6/1/2019	181.7	205.84	180.73	204.6	190.2753	44089700
7/1/2019	208	222.24	203.54	220.13	204.718	51995900
8/1/2019	219.35	219.95	193.71	203.91	189.6336	43352400
9/1/2019	201.1	221.5	196.58	207.23	193.9307	45995700
10/1/2019	207.01	219.28	193.99	213.38	199.6861	61684500
11/1/2019	215.26	224.77	214.75	221.35	207.1445	39274300
12/1/2019	220.97	232.21	210	229.93	216.3871	46468200
1/1/2020	231	250.46	229.49	237.75	223.7465	70831600
2/1/2020	238.36	245.77	194.85	200.77	188.9446	61711300
3/1/2020	201.41	211.79	130.85	154.59	146.3742	1.34E+08
4/1/2020	146.1	193.72	141.67	183.42	173.672	84992100
5/1/2020	179	211.31	165.36	196.49	186.0473	68838500
6/1/2020	197.31	222.98	188.51	197.62	188.287	77455700
7/1/2020	198.88	225.24	195	197.96	188.6109	84411600
8/1/2020	198.49	216.95	196.53	204.87	195.1945	56569800
9/1/2020	203.6	215.23	185.87	200.97	192.638	79074100
10/1/2020	201.53	214.89	185.52	189.04	181.2026	71860700
11/1/2020	192	238.12	188.23	230.58	221.0204	61139000
12/1/2020	231.96	263.93	231.35	263.71	252.7769	57496000
1/1/2021	267	309.41	260.16	271.17	261.3444	73466400
2/1/2021	272.66	335.81	272	319.48	307.9039	56397500
3/1/2021	325	356.85	316.46	327	315.1515	69663600
4/1/2021	324.3	353.83	322.97	348.45	337.1433	64000400
5/1/2021	350.34	376.98	342.57	372.02	359.9485	54534300
6/1/2021	377.7	393.26	348.13	379.53	368.455	61458900
7/1/2021	380.7	385.33	349	374.88	363.9407	53710100
8/1/2021	376.17	420.76	371.77	413.51	401.4435	48011900
9/1/2021	413.16	417.58	372.5	378.03	368.7821	50989600
10/1/2021	379.44	419.81	372.82	413.35	403.238	52460700
11/1/2021	417.07	426.16	377.26	380.99	371.6696	51024900

Q2: (6') Compute monthly holding period return using Adj. close prices for each stock.

Q3: (6') Use the EXCEL statistical functions to compute mean (AVERAGE) and standard deviation (STDEV) of the monthly return for each stock.

Assume that historical mean returns are good estimates of expected returns. To achieve diversification, John invests in APPLE and WALMART. Q4: What are the weights on the two stocks to achieve the optimal risky portfolio for John (4')? What are the mean and standard deviation of returns on his optimal risky portfolio (4')? Must show your calculation by including the formulas you used (4').

Mary instead invests in APPLE and GOLDMAN SACHS. Q5: What are the weights on the two stocks to achieve the optimal risky portfolio for Mary (4')? What are the mean and standard deviation of returns on her optimal risky portfolio (4')? Must show your calculation by including the formulas you used (2').

Q6: Discuss whose optimal portfolio performs better (John or Mary) (5'), and explain why (5').

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Here are the answers to the questions Q2 I computed the monthly holding period return for each stock ... View the full answer