How closely does the number of trading accounts relate to the total assets of the 10 largest online stock brokerages? The table below presents data on these brokerages. The number of accounts is in thousands, and assets are in billions of dollars.
Brokerage Accounts (1000) Assets ($ billions)
Ameritrade 428 19.5
Charles Schwab 2500 219
Datek 205 5.5
Discover 134 5.9
DLJ Direct 590 11.2
E* Trade 909 21.1
Fidelity 2300 160
National Discount Brokers 125 6.8
Suretrade 130 1.3
TD Waterhouse 615 38.8
(a) Does the wording of the initial question in this exercise indicate which variable should be treated as the response?
(b) Construct a scatterplot with Assets on the vertical axis and Accounts on the horizontal axis.
(c) Comment on the form, direction, and strength of the relationship between Assets and Accounts.
(d) Two brokerage stand out from the rest of the data. Identify these two brokerages by putting their names near their respective data points in your scatterplot.