Charles Clayton monitors the daily performance of his investment portfolio by recording a "+" or a "-" sign to indicate whether the portfolio's value increased or decreased from the previous day.His record for the last eighteen business days is "- + + - - - + - - + + + + + + + + -".The number of runs in this sample is _________.
A)seven
B)six
C)four
D)three
E)one

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

A run is a sequence of one or more outcomes of the same type that is followed by a different outcome or no outcome at all. In the given sequence "- + + - - - + - - + + + + + + + -", the runs are as follows: 1) -, 2) ++, 3) -, 4) ---, 5) +, 6) -, 7) -+, 8) +++++++, 9) -. Counting these, we have a total of 7 distinct runs.

Charles Clayton Monitors the Daily Performance of His Investment Portfolio