Online Trading Blog

  • Weekly Stock Market Insights.
  • Trading Strategies, Products & Info
  • Indicators, Candlesticks & Patterns
  • Be a Subscriber be a Happy Trader
  • Click here to Explore the sitemap.

 

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

What is Alpha Indicator?

Alpha is an important trading indicator which measures the performance of a fund or security or portfolio with respect to a benchmark or predicted return and to the risk taken. Simply, alpha is the difference between the actual performance and expected performance. Positive alpha means the fund/portfolio outperformed the benchmark, negative alpha means the same underperformed the benchmark and a value of zero means that it performed as expected.

Alpha = (Rp - (b * Rb))/n

Where Rp is the total portfolio/security/fund return, B is the beta value of the security, Rb is the total benchmark/expected return and n is the number of observations.

Alpha indicator is considered as a measurement indicator of the investor's or fund manager's stock/investment screening ability. Often investment models like capital asset pricing model or CAPM and Three factor model are used to calculate the expected return from a portfolio or security with respect to the risk taken; high risk investments should offer high returns. If the actual performance beats this expected value, then the fund manager or investor has added to the return. For example if CAPM estimates a 10% return from the portfolio but the actual return is 15%, then the portfolio outperformed the benchmark by 5%.

Alpha indicator is considered one among the five important technicals of a fund's performance; others include beta indicator, standard deviation, Sharpe ratio and R-squared indicator. There are some other variations of alpha indicator like Jenson alpha which is used to get custom or more accurate results.

NobleTrading.com Offers Online Stock Trading, Online Options Trading
Stock Trading, Stock Market Trading,
Online Futures Trading, Online Forex Trading
Worldwide Brokerage Service, Day Trading Brokerage

Privacy Statement | Margin Disclosure | Risk Disclosure | Business Continuity Plan | Site Map | Order routing Disclosure Penson | Blog

The risks involved with online trading can be financially substantial. Online trading system delays or market volatility may adversely affect online trading related services. Not all securities, services or products are available in all countries or U.S. states. Please consider whether online trading is compatible with your financial resources and individual circumstances. Online trading in extended hours entails additional risks such as lower trading liquidity, higher volatility, more rapidly changing prices, wider spreads, and the like. Nothing herein should be deemed as an offer or solicitation of securities trading, products or services in any jurisdiction in which online trading brokerage services are not properly licensed. SIPC insurance does not apply to futures or forex business.

Brokerage Services provided by Lightspeed Trading LLC, Member finra/sipc/nfa
Copyright NobleTrading.com ®, Inc, a division of Lightspeed Financial, Inc, 2011. All rights reserved.