To find the 4-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) for the given ten consecutive day closing prices of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., we'll sum the closing prices for each set of four consecutive days and then divide by 4 to get the average. We'll do this for all possible sets of four consecutive days.
Closing prices:
$57.35, $58.61, $57.98, $58.07, $57.50, $56.97, $56.35, $56.83, $57.16, $57.18
Let's calculate the 4-day SMAs:
1. Average of the first four days:
\[ \frac{57.35 + 58.61 + 57.98 + 58.07}{4} = \frac{232.01}{4} = 58.00 \]
2. Average of the second set of four days (days 2 to 5):
\[ \frac{58.61 + 57.98 + 58.07 + 57.50}{4} = \frac{232.16}{4} = 58.04 \]
3. Average of the third set of four days (days 3 to 6):
\[ \frac{57.98 + 58.07 + 57.50 + 56.97}{4} = \frac{230.52}{4} = 57.63 \]
4. Average of the fourth set of four days (days 4 to 7):
\[ \frac{58.07 + 57.50 + 56.97 + 56.35}{4} = \frac{228.89}{4} = 57.22 \]
5. Average of the fifth set of four days (days 5 to 8):
\[ \frac{57.50 + 56.97 + 56.35 + 56.83}{4} = \frac{227.65}{4} = 56.91 \]
6. Average of the sixth set of four days (days 6 to 9):
\[ \frac{56.97 + 56.35 + 56.83 + 57.16}{4} = \frac{227.31}{4} = 56.83 \]
7. Average of the seventh set of four days (days 7 to 10):
\[ \frac{56.35 + 56.83 + 57.16 + 57.18}{4} = \frac{227.52}{4} = 56.88 \]
So, the 4-day Simple Moving Averages (SMAs) for the given ten consecutive day closing prices are approximately:
- Day 4: $58.00
- Day 5: $58.04
- Day 6: $57.63
- Day 7: $57.22
- Day 8: $56.91
- Day 9: $56.83
- Day 10: $56.88
