Chapter II: This survey looks at historical volatility of The Gap Inc. prices. The risks associated with long and short term positions can be evaluated according to projected shapes of the Volatility Curve. |
| Prev. Co. | Next Co. | |
|
| ||
|
Volatility is defined as the price range for a period, divided by the average price for the period: For instance, on 12/31/2010 the average price was 22.31 with a range of 0.41, indicating a Daily Volatility of 1.8%. Daily Volatility (the daily range as a portion of the daily average price) is plotted in green. Blue is Weekly Volatility, which is the weekly range as a portion of the weekly average price. It is important to avoid confusing this with the weekly average of the daily volatility, which is a completely different concept. The red plot shows the actual price. Volatility, as measured through various intervals, ( Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Quarterly) is plotted according to color. 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 23 years, the Average Quarterly Volatility of GPS stock price has been 32% while the Average Daily Volatility has been 3%. |
| Prev. Co. | Next Co. | |
| ||
|
You may be familiar with the "yield curve" which shows how interest bearing yields vary according to term. 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 GPS Volatility Curve, the increase is not constant. |
| Prev. Co. | Next Co. | |
| ||
|
This histogram is a frequency distribution of Daily Volatility, corresponding to the green points on the first chart on this page. |
| 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 GPS : |
| Friday, February 18, 2011: We have news on Fiserv, Inc., ticker symbol FISV. Signs of an over-bought condition have become noticable. Also, there are breaking events concerning Zimmer Holdings, Inc. and D.R. Horton, Inc.. From the News Archive: (2/18/2011 ) Favorable events happened at Robert Half International Inc. and Southwestern Energy Company. Meanwhile, bad news came from McCormick & Company, Incorporated and Reynolds American, Inc.. |