[EX02-186] Forbes.com posted the 2004 EPS (earnings per share) in dollars for 17 banking industry companies.

Name EPS ($) Name EPS ($)

Astoria Financial 2.92 Popular 1.71 Banknorth Group 2.20 State Street 3.13 Bank of America 3.67 Synovus Finl 1.36 BB & T 2.61 UnionBanCal 4.70 Compass Bancshares 2.86 Wachovia 3.68 Golden West Finl 3.97 Wells Fargo 4.00 M & T Bank 5.74 Westcorp 3.71 National City 3.75 Zions Bancorp 4.36 North Fork Bancorp 1.83 Source: http://www.forbes.com/lists/results.jhtml

a. Find the mean EPS for the banks.

b. Find the median EPS for the banks.

c. Find the midrange of the EPS for the banks.

d. Write a discussion comparing the results from parts

a, b, and c.

e. Find the standard deviation of the EPS for the banks.

f. Find the percentage of the data that are within 1 standard deviation of the mean.

g. Find the percentage of the data that are within 2 standard deviations of the mean.

h. Based on the preceding results, discuss whether you think the data are normally distributed, and why.