Refer to the discussion of beta values and market models in Problem 12.49 on page 444. The S& P 500 Index tracks the overall movement of the stock market by considering the stock prices of 500 large corporations. The file StockPrices2013 contains 2013 weekly data for the S& P 500 and three companies. The following variables are included: WEEK— Week ending on date given S& P— Weekly closing value for the S& P 500 Index GE— Weekly closing stock price for General Electric DISCA— Weekly closing stock price for Discovery ­Communications GOOG— Weekly closing stock price for Google Source: Data extracted from finance. yahoo.com, June 6, 2014.

a. Estimate the market model for GE.

b. Interpret the beta value for GE.

c. Repeat (a) and (b) for Discovery Communications.

d. Repeat (a) and (b) for Google. e. Write a brief summary of your findings.