After examining a planning gap, firms typically attempt to decide if the time horizon should be increased or decreased. perform a SWOT analysis with their major competitor as the focus. use statistical trend analysis to interpret the results. exploit a positive deviation and correct a negative deviation. adopt a product-market focus.

Rate of return, standard deviation, coefficient of variation personal finance problem mike is searching for a stock to include in his current stock portfolio. he is interested in hi-tech inc.; he has been impressed with the company's computer products and believes hi-tech is an innovative market player. however, mike realizes that any time you consider a technology stock, risk is a major concern. the rule he follows is to include only securities with a coefficient of variation of returns below 1.07. mike has obtained the following price information for the period 2015 through 2018:hi-tech stock, being growth-oriented, did not pay any dividends during these 4 years. a. calculate the rate of return for each year, 2015 through 2018, for hi-tech stock. b. assume that each year's return is equally probable and calculate the average return over this time period. c. calculate the standard deviation of returns over the past 4 years. (hint: treat this data as a sample.) d. based on b and c determine the coefficient of variation of returns for the security. e. given the calculation in d what should be mike's decision regarding the inclusion of hi-tech stock in his portfolio?