Standard deviation is a metric that shows the variability of a security’s returns over time. It can be used to gauge volatility based on past performance and compare a future return to past returns.

Flickr via Google Images Standard deviation is a concept that's thrown around frequently in finance. So what is it? When working with a quantitative data set, one of the first things we want to know ...

Will Kenton is an expert on the economy and investing laws and regulations. He previously held senior editorial roles at Investopedia and Kapitall Wire and holds a MA in Economics from The New School ...

Standard deviation is a common statistical measurement and is defined by Oxford Dictionaries as: ‘A quantity expressing by how much the members of a group differ from the mean value for the group.’ In ...

Investopedia contributors come from a range of backgrounds, and over 25 years there have been thousands of expert writers and editors who have contributed. Somer G. Anderson is CPA, doctor of ...

In response to my article, Is the Stock Market Too Concentrated?, which relied upon standard-deviation calculations to assess investment risk, a reader wrote: “My problem [with your argument] is ...