(Related to Checkpoint 8.1) (Expected rate of return) James Fromholtz is considering whether to invest in a newly formed investment fund. The fund's investment objective is to acquire home mortgage securities at what it hopes will be bargain prices. The fund sponsor has suggested to James that the fund's performance will hinge on how the national economy performs in the coming year. Specifically, he suggested the following possible outcomes: a. Based on these potential outcomes, what is your estimate of the expected rate of return from this investment opportunity? b. Would you be interested in making such an investment? Note that you lose all your money in one year if the economy collapses into the worst state or you double your money if the economy enters into a rapid expansion (Computing the standard deviation for a portfolio of two risky investments) Mary Guilott recently graduated from Nichols State University and is anxious to begin investing her meager savings as a way of applying what she has learned in business school. Specifically, she is evaluating an investment in a portfolio comprised of two firms' common stock. She has collected the following information about the common stock of Firm A and Firm B: a. If Mary invests half her money in each of the two common stocks, what is the portfolio's expected rate of return and standard deviation in portfolio return? b. Answer part a where the correlation between the two common stock investments is equal to zero. c. Answer part a where the correlation between the two common stock investments is equal to +1. d. Answer part a where the correlation between the two common stock investments is equal to - 1 e. Using your responses to questions a d , describe the relationship between the correlation and the risk and return of the portfolio * Data Table Firm A's common stock Firm B's common stock Correlation coefficient Expected Return 0.15 0.19 0.70 Standard Deviation 0.16 0.25