You are considering an investment in either individual stocks or a portfolio of stocks. The two stocks you are researching, Stock A and Stock B$,$ have the following historical returns:

Year

$2014-17\mathrm{.}00\%-4\mathrm{.}70\%$

$201532\mathrm{.}0019\mathrm{.}40$

$201622\mathrm{.}00-15\mathrm{.}40$

$2017-7\mathrm{.}5046\mathrm{.}60$

$201824\mathrm{.}257\mathrm{.}85$

Historical Realized Rates of Return

You are considering an investment in either individual stocks or a portfolio of stocks. The two stocks you are researching, Stock A and Stock B$,$ have the following historical returns:

a$.$ Calculate the average rate of return for each stock during the $5-$year period. Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answers to two decimal places.

Stock A:

Stock B:

$\%$

Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answers to two decimal places. Negative values, if any, should be indicated by a minus sign.

c$.$ Calculate the standard deviation of returns for each stock and for the portfolio. Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answers to two decimal places.

d$.$ Suppose you are a risk$-$averse investor. Assuming Stocks A and B are your only choices, would you prefer to hold Stock A$,$ Stock B$,$ or the portfolio? Why?

A risk$-$averse investor should choose

$,$ since it offers

expected return with

risk.