BA II Plus - Error 4

CFA Level II
#1

i was attempting to go through some quant examples with my calculator and got an error 4 message on my BA II Plus calculator. the example was from stalla SS3 page 8 (covariance coefficient). can anyone please advise why this is happening? i’ve re-input the data just to make sure that wasn’t the cause, but i still have the same error. i’ve asked the question to stalla, but i’m still waiting for a response.

#2

lol you asked Stalla. Send a message to Texas Instruments too!

#3

what was the example details… can you paste what stalla asked you to do… so folks who have calculator can help! (I am on Level III - but would be glad to take a look)

#4

I just googled “BA II Plus - Error 4” and looked in their manual. On pages 80-82 of that manual they have the error code descriptions. Error 4 means “Out of Range”. Specifically, they haven’t mentioned what it means when you’re doing covariance coefficient calculations. i too, would be interested in details.

#5

the example was based on this table: Year Return on Zeta Shares (Y) Return on S&P 500 Index (X) 1 10 5 2 -15 -10 3 15 10 4 5 0 5 -5 -10 you have to input these values using the 2nd Data and then get the correlation coefficient (sorry i had put covariance up top, but i meant correlation) by using 2nd Stat. when i get to the 2nd Stat part, i get the Error 4 message.

#6

I had no problem doing this on my calc. I got all values for 2ND-STAT. Reset your calculator by using 2ND-RESET and then try it again.

#7

thank you, iginla2010. after resetting my calculator my problem was fixed. the issue was that when i did 2nd-Stat, the mode i was in was 1-V. this should be LIN (solved by doing 2nd-Set repeatedly until LIN shows up - while in the 2nd-Stat area). also, the number of decimal places was an issue as well. this can be changed by pressing 2nd-Format-the number of decimals you want to show-Enter-2nd-Quit.

#8

Preferably, set your number of decimals to 9, this is the floating setting which will always show you the number of decimals you actually need to see (say 1/2 = 0.5, 1/4 = 0.25, 1/8 = 0.125, 1/16 = 0.0625; no redundant zeros).