The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) consists of listing of approximately 1,500 companies, which offer shares of company stock to the public. Stockbrokers are interested not only in the individual stocks, but also in general trends established by the market as a whole. They often base inferences upon the daily closing prices of the group of 30 NYSE stocks that comprise the Dow Jones Industrial Index.
a. Identify the population, the variable of interest, and the sample in the context of this problem.
b. What are some inferences of possible interest to a stockbroker? How would the reliability of the inferences be assessed?