Kurtosis in Financial Analysis
📈 Investing
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Quick Definition

Kurtosis is a statistical measure that describes the shape of a distribution's tails in relation to its overall shape, indicating how outlier-prone the distribution is.

Formula

Kurtosis = (n(n+1) / ((n-1)(n-2)(n-3))) * Σ((xi - x̄)^4 / s^4) - (3(n-1)^2 / (n-2)(n-3))

Examples

  • 1In stock market analysis, a high kurtosis of the return distribution suggests a higher risk of extreme returns, either positive or negative.
  • 2In risk management, assessing the kurtosis of asset returns helps in understanding the likelihood of encountering values far from the mean.
  • 3In portfolio management, comparing the kurtosis of different investment returns can guide in choosing assets that align with the investor's risk tolerance.

Tags

statisticsrisk-analysisportfolio-managementinvestment-strategyfinancial-modeling
Quick Info
Category:Investing
Difficulty:advanced
Last Updated:6/19/2025