Chapter II: Risks associated with short and long period price changes can be understood through Volatility Analysis. Here the impact of the Volatility Curve on the potential profitability positions across different time spans is shown. |
| Prev. Co. | Next Co. | |
|
| ||
|
Volatility is defined as the price range for a period, divided by the average price for the period: So, to derive the Daily Volatility on 6/1/2009 of 115.6%, the price range for the day (0.74) was divided by the average price (0.64). The Daily Volatility is obtained by dividing the daily range by the daily average. A longer Volatility period such as Weekly Volatility is obtained by dividing the weekly price range by the weekly mean price. This is a different concept from the weekly average of daily volatility. For reference, the price is plotted in red. The remaining marks on the plot correspond to the Volatility measured across several time intervals. According to academic theory, Volatility is exactly equal to Risk. But investors often make a distinction between these two concepts. The different character of Volatility as seen in different time frames, lends some support to the investor's view. During 29 years, the Average Quarterly Volatility of GM stock price has been 26% while the Average Daily Volatility has been 3%. |
| Prev. Co. | Next Co. | |
| ||
|
If you have ever seen a "yield curve" you should be able to understand the concept behind this "yield curve". Each Volatility Curve is a snapshot in time. As the timespan across which Volatility is measured increases, the Volatility is expected to increase. However, as seen in this plot of the GM Volatility Curve, the increase is not constant. |
| Prev. Co. | Next Co. | |
| ||
|
A frequency distribution of the green points on the first chart (the daily volatility) yields this histogram. |
| Prev. Co. | Next Co. | |
| ||
|
Similarly, the purple points on the top chart, the Quarterly Volatility Values, are subjected to frequency distribution here. |
Refined Volatility Risk Analysis for GM : |
| In the news, Friday, February 18, 2011: An unfavorable condition has developed with Aetna Inc., ticker symbol AET. Also, there are breaking events concerning Dollar Tree, Inc. (DLTR) and First Niagara Financial Group Inc. (FNFG) |