What is a Stock Index? A stock index, also called a share index or stock market index, consists of constituent stocks used to provide an indication of an economy, market, or sector. A stock index is commonly used by investors as a benchmark to gauge the performance of their portfolio. Examples of stock indexes include…
What is the MEDIAN Function? The MEDIAN Function is categorized under Excel Statistical functions. The function will calculate the middle value of a given set of numbers. Median can be defined as the middle number of a group of numbers. That is, half the numbers return values that are greater than the median, and half…
What is a Bond Ladder? A bond ladder is an investment strategy that involves constructing a portfolio in which bonds or other fixed income securities mature continuously at equally spaced intervals. As the bonds closest to maturity expire, the investments are rolled over to the end. This keeps the investor’s position of holding bonds with…
What is the MODE Function? The MODE Function is categorized under Excel Statistical functions. MODE will calculate the most frequently occurring value from a list of supplied numbers. If there are two or more most frequently occurring values in the supplied data, the function returns the lowest of the values. In financial analysis, the function…
What is the MINA Function? The MINA function is categorized under Excel Statistical functions. The function will return the minimum value in a given list of arguments. From a given set of numeric values, it will return the smallest value. The MINA function compares numbers, text, and logical values as TRUE or FALSE. In financial…
What is the MIN Function? The MIN Function is categorized under Excel Statistical functions. MIN will return the minimum value in a given list of arguments. From a given set of numeric values, it will return the smallest value. Unlike the MINA function, the MIN function ignores numbers, text, and logical values TRUE and FALSE and…
What is the OFFSET Function? The OFFSET Function is categorized under Excel Lookup and Reference functions. OFFSET will return a range of cells. That is, it will return a specified number of rows and columns from an initial range that was specified. In financial analysis, we often use Pivot Tables and Charts. The OFFSET function…
What is the WEEKDAY Function? The WEEKDAY Function is an Excel DATE and TIME Function. The function will return an integer that is a representation of the day of the week for a given date. WEEKDAY is quite useful in financial analysis. Suppose we wish to determine the time required to complete a certain project…
What is the ROWS Function? The ROWS Function is an Excel Lookup/Reference Function. The function is used to look up and provide the number of rows in each reference or array. Thus, the function, after receiving an Excel range, will return the number of rows that are contained within that range. in financial analysis, we…
What is the RATE Function? The RATE Function is an Excel Financial function that is used to calculate the interest rate charged on a loan or the rate of return needed to reach a specified amount on an investment over a given period. For a financial analyst, the RATE function can be useful to calculate the…
