Exercise

Testing interest-rate returns for normality

The object zcbx_m contains monthly log-return series for the 1-year, 5-year and 10-year Canadian zero-coupon bond yields. The object zcbx2_m contains the corresponding simple returns. Both are multivariate; they are loaded into your workspace.

In this exercise, you will plot these interest rate return series and then examine their normality with Q-Q plots and Jarque-Bera tests.

The log-returns show clearer evidence of non-normality than the simple returns in this case.

Instructions

100 XP
  • Plot zcbx_m and zcbx2_m with the appropriate plotting function and the parameter type = "h".
  • Use brackets for indexing and qqnorm() to create Q-Q plots of the 3rd component series of zcbx_m and zcbx2_m.
  • Use apply() to compute the kurtosis of each component series in zcbx_m and zcbx2_m.
  • Use apply() to conduct the Jarque-Bera test on each component series in zcbx_m and zcbx2_m.