Returns, Risk, & Correlations

Download the spreadsheets containing the daily stock prices for General Electric, Microsoft, and Wal-Mart and the daily token prices for Bitcoin. Calculate daily returns over the period MM/DD/2016 to MM/DD/2017, where MM/DD corresponds to the month and day of your birthday. (If your birthday occurs on a weekend, be sure to include at least one daily price before and after your birthday.) Merge the returns for these four assets into a single Excel workbook with the returns for each one in a separate column, properly aligned by date.

1. Using the Excel functions for Average and Standard Deviation, calculate the average and standard deviation of returns for each asset.
2. Using the Correlation function, construct the correlation matrix for the securities using the daily returns for the entire period.
3. Which pair of assets has the highest correlation coefficient? The lowest?
4. If you had to choose two assets for your portfolio, which pair would give you the greatest benefit with regard to diversification? Explain.

(PLEASE INCLUDE LINK FOR EXCEL SPREADSHEET)