Given the following end$-$of$-$day of crude oil futures prices with one$-$month to maturity,

answer the questions below:

a$.$ What are the futures returns from Jan. $18,2023,$ to Jan. $31,2023?$

b$.$ What is the average of the above futures returns? What is their variance?

c$.$ Using the simple variance forecasting model, calculate the variance of the above

futures returns? Discuss why this value is different from the one you got in b$.$