Question

An investor currently holds stock in Giggle Corporation and is considering buying stock in either Macrosoft Corporation or Faceplant Corporation. All three stocks have the same expected return and risk. The correlation between Giggle & Macrosoft is 0.25. The correlation between Giggle and Faceplant is -0.10. Portfolio risk is expected to:

a. Increase regardless of whether she buys Macrosoft or Faceplant since they are equally risky
b. Decline more when the investor buys Faceplant
c. Cannot tell from information provided – need to know risk, return and proportion of each stock in the portfolio
d. Stay the same regardless of whether Macrosoft or Faceplant is added since all three have the same risk
e. Decrease more when the investor buys Macrosoft

Answer 1

b

Step-by-step explanation:

Portfolio diversification is the process of holding different asset and security classes in order to minimise the non systemic risk of the portfolio

Correlation is a statistical measure used to measure the relationship that exists between two variables.

1. Positive correlation : it mean that the two variables move in the same direction. If one variable increases, the other variable also increases. It increases the risk of the portfolio

For example, there should be a positive correlation between quantity supplied and price

When there is a positive correlation, the graph of the variables is upward sloping

2. Negative correlation : it mean that the two variables move in different direction. If one variable increases, the other variable decreases. It decreases the risk of the portfolio

For example, there should be a negative correlation between quantity demanded and price

When there is a negative correlation, the graph of the variables is downward sloping

3. Zero correlation : there is no relationship between the variables. It decreases the risk of the portfolio