Executive Summary

Data Analytics and

Visualization: Tableau
Business Performance & Risk Management, Summer 2015
May 29, 2015

Sheeba Ogirala

Introduction
With the use of Tableau data visualization tools, we will analyze stock data to gain insights on the
performance of different stock exchanges over time. We will look at how the exchanges compare
in terms of returns and volumes historically and how uncommon events like bubbles and recession
have impacted the exchanges. As a portfolio manager looking to invest in exchange traded funds
of ETFs, the analytics tool will give us in-depth information about the different exchange
performances.

Research Question
The research question or problem that we will address in this study is how to choose the best
exchange traded fund that will outperform the market, through the economic cycles of peak,
recession, recovery and expansion. Looking at the economic state we are currently in and where
we are headed, we are in a post-recession growth stage. We will look at how different exchanges
performed during these economic cycles. This report shows portfolio managers can use CSRP data
from 2000-2014 to analyze these economic trends and hence are able to make better investing
decisions for their clients.

Overview of Data
The data set for this study contains the monthly stock data of all the companies in CRSP from 122000 to 12-2014. Over this period, we have the following data: Control variables: Exchange listed
on, Trading status, Security status, Exchange code header, Number of shares outstanding, Nasdaq
national market indicator. Measurements: Stock price monthly high, low and average, Monthly
trading volume, Value weighted return, Equal weighted return, Return on S&P 500

Overview of what was done

Taking the raw CRSP data, we see that Date is listed as a string, we need to convert it to Date
format to meaningfully use it.
1. Fig 1: The sum of Return in rows is plotted as area over Names Date in years. It is colored by
the different exchanges the stocks are listed on. Right click on time axis, add Reference lines
-> bands to show the US recession periods dot-com bubble from March 2001 November
2001 and the housing market crash from December 2007 June 2009.
2. Fig 2: Select Date and Volume to create box-and-whisker plot. Move the Primary Exchange to
columns and Color. In Marks, expand the year to quarters.
3. Fig 3: Select Primary exchange, Volume & Returns and click on bubble chart. Move Returns
& Volume to labels separately. Move Trading Status to filers, filter to A. Move Date to filters
and choose 2014.
4. Fig 4: Move Date to columns, Volume to rows. Create a field Market Capitalization Number
of shares outstanding * Price. Move Market Capitalization to rows, add dual axis. Change
Volume Mark type to bar chart. Move Primary Exchange to Color & Name.
5. Fig 5: Choose scatter plot, move returns to rows, returns on the S&P to columns. Move Primary
exchange to color, Trading status to shape, Company name to detail. Right click to show Trend
Lines. Move Date to rows, Trading Status to columns. Double click on 2014 and A trading
status. Right click on an AMEX line to Describe Trend model.

Discussion of Results & Insights Gained

Fig 1 shows the returns on each of the five stock exchanges from 2000-2014 NYSE, AMEX,
NASDAQ, Other Exchange, ARCA. From the chart, we see that historically AMEX has had the

highest returns followed by NYSE, NASDAQ and ARCA. Fig 2 shows the trading volumes on
each of the five exchanges. We see that the NYSE is the most traded exchange of the five, with a
median of 1.8B trades per quarter, closely followed NASDAQ with a median of 1.1B trades per
quarter. If we take a closer look at the returns in Fig 3, we see that in 2014, NYSE is the most
traded exchange by volume of nearly 6B followed by NASDAQ with a volume of 4.7B. But from
the color, we see that NASDAQ has the highest returns of 345.6, followed by NYSE returns of
244. In Fig 4, we see that the Market Capitalization of NASDAQ has been the highest historically,
although it has shrunk since the early 2000s. While the NASDAQ has also shrunk, we see it
started to grow significantly after 2013. From Fig 5 & 6, we see that the exchanges are positively
correlated with the S&P with certain NASDAQ returns much higher than the S&P returns.

Implications & Managerial Conclusion

Historically, we see that the most traded exchange is the New York Stock Exchange. Although
AMEX performed well during the early 2000s, its performance has fallen significantly over last
few years. With the rise of social media and tech startups, Information Technology stocks have
been outperforming traditional sectors like banking, basic materials etc. NASDAQ is the exchange
which lists most tech stocks and hence has potential to outperform other exchanges.

Recommendation
As a portfolio manager in 2014, NASDAQ electronic exchange is a good investment for an
exchange traded fund. The data supports that fact NASDAQ has highest returns for the current
economic cycle.

Screenshots
Fig 1: Returns on 5 US stock exchanges, 2000-2014

Fig 2: Trading volume in 5 US stock exchanges, all time

Fig 3: Most Traded Exchange in 2014

Fig 4: Volume vs Market Capitalization 2000-2014

Fig 5: Exchange performance vs S&P 500, 2000-2014

Fig 6: Trend Model Description

Fig 7: Dashboard