We'll calculate the historical monthly variance of the S&P 500 Total Return Index over a five-year period from August 2010 through July 2015 -- that's 60 observations (5 years x 12 months).

How to Calculate Variance in OpenOffice. Variance is a statistical calculation that numerically describes the amount of variation in a data set. If values in a data set wildly fluctuate, variance ...

Calculating a company's financial variance can help with planning and budgeting in the future.

There are several practical ways to calculate the mean and standard deviation. Scientific calculators typically come with a built-in program for both the mean and standard deviation.

The following article will show you, step-by-step, how to calculate the historical variance of stock returns with a detailed example.