Four NP(1–4) statistics are a set of alternative non-parametric stability statistics defined by Thennarasu [33]. Indeed, these parameters are based on the ranks of adjusted means of the genotypes in each environment. This statistic was introduced by Kang [29] to select high-yielding and stable corn genotypes across various environments.

One-sided stable distribution and stable count distribution

Where λn and γin are the eigenvalue of the nth IPCA and the eigenvector value for the ith genotype. A genotype is considered to be more stable when the value of this statistic is lower. List of parametric and non-parametric stability statistics to analyze GEI effect in METs experiments. The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only.

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• Where W2 is Wricke’s ecovalence, and p and q are the numbers of genotypes and environments, respectively.
• Like its benchmark index, the fund was up about 12% in the first four-and-a-half months of 2024.
• Θ12 and θ22 are percentage sum of squares explained by the first two IPCAs effects, respectively.
• As of July 2024, Microsoft (MSFT) has the largest market cap among stocks in the index, at about $3.2 trillion.
• Indeed, these parameters provided a measure of stability in a dynamic sense.

Ultimately, though, how much of your bond allocation you might want to move into stable value funds is a matter of personal choice, based on your risk tolerance. If you really hate the idea of any price volatility, you might want to invest more of the fixed income portion of your portfolio in a stable value fund than in a core bond fund. Stable value funds typically invest in short-term US government bonds and high-quality corporate bonds. The duration for stable value funds is typically around three years or so. The longer a fund’s duration, the more sensitive it is to interest rate moves.

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After then, Hussein et al. [106], Akbarpour et al. [107], and Dia et al. [108] developed other codes that enable breeders to calculate other stability statistics. Among these, the SAS macro code developed by Dia et al. [108]––which has been called SASG×E––is more complete compared to other codes. The capability of different software for computing the stability statistics.

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• Hence, to show the importance of this graphical tool in various breeding programs, we have only highlighted some of the papers published during the last two years (2020–2022) for each crop (Table 2).
• Farshadfar [41] developed a stability statistic based on the rank of mean yield of genotype across environments (RY) and rank of ASV value (RASV).
• Even though the country is still relatively stable, this is something that has been tested recently.
• To appreciate how stable value funds operate, it’s useful to first review the mechanics of how bond funds perform as a bond fund is the core component of a stable value fund.
• That said, just because you have a 401(k) doesn’t mean you’ll be able to invest in a stable value fund.
• For instance, a large GEI could mean the establishment of two target breeding environments (sites) in a region, instead of one, thus requiring increased input of resources [10].

Interest in AI stocks has also surged since late 2022, when ChatGPT launched. The ETF finished 2023 with a gain of almost 24% but was down about 4.5% after the first quarter of 2024. Because it invests primarily in REITs, the ETF is also attractive to dividend investors.

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In other words, a large effect of the GEI results in smaller heritability; thus, progress from selection would be limited [8]. In METs, the best linear unbiased prediction (BLUP) is a useful model that will provide an ideal opportunity for the estimation of heritability across various environments [12,13]. Furthermore, this model provides additional information for the test of stability, adaptability, and simultaneous stability-adaptability in METs, which will be described in the following. Pour-Aboughadareh et al. [104] developed another free and user-friendly web-based software to compute several parametric and non-parametric stability statistics.

1. GGE Biplot Software

There are numerous reports related to the use of non-parametric methods in analyzing the GEI effect and selection of stable genotypes in different crops. For instance, Ahmadi et al. [46] used a set of non-parametric methods to investigate stability of grain and forage yields in 14 advanced lines of grass pea in semi-warm regions of Iran for three consecutive years. According to their results, among non-parametric parameters, the TOP parameter showed a dynamic concept of stability and showed a strong correlation with grain and forage yields. In a study conducted by Karimizadeh et al. [47], non-parametric statistic S(6) showed a dynamic concept of stability and well-recognized high-yielding and stable lentil genotypes in a MET experiment. Khalili and Pour-Aboughadareh [48] evaluated yield stability and adaptability of 40 barley doubled haploid lines in eight environments, reporting a dynamic concept of stability for TOP parameter. However, Sabaghnia et al. [49] reported a positive correlation between grain yield and NP(2), NP(3), and NP(4) stability parameters in durum wheat genotypes, and also showed a dynamic concept of stability for these measurements.

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So you’ll need to know which market index you want your index fund to track before you start investing. If you don’t want to spend hours researching individual stocks, another option is to buy index funds — baskets of stocks that track broad-market indexes like the S&P 500. That means the index is continuously recalculated based on the number of shares available for trading.

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Launched in 1997, this Schwab fund charges a scant 0.02% expense ratio and requires no minimum investment. It’s perfectly legit for younger retirement savers who prefer to reduce the Stable Index volatility of the fixed-income portion of their allocation strategy to use stable value funds, he says. As a bond fund investor, what you earn is known as the fund’s total return.

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In comparison, if your 401(k) plan offers a total market bond fund—most do—its duration is likely around six years, leaving it more susceptible to interest rate changes. But you also won’t earn much, either—and you may even forfeit purchasing power over time. Since the end of the Great Recession, money market fund yields have been stuck well below the rate of inflation.

GENES is a software package used for data analysis and processing with different biometric models for genetic studies applied to plant and animal breeding. It allows parametric and non-parametric stability statistics to be computed and presents integration with MS Word, MS Excel and Paint. It is also compatible with the free software R and Matlab, through the supply of useful scripts available for complementary analyses in different areas [99].

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This method, which is named Kang’s rank-sum (RK), uses both yield and Shukla’s stability variance (σ2i) as a selection index. This parameter gives a weight of one to both yield and stability statistics to identify high-yielding and stable genotypes. The genotype with the highest yield and lower σ2i are assigned a rank of one. Then, the ranks of yield and stability variance are added for each genotype and the genotypes with the lowest rank-sum are the most desirable.

There are numerous reports in the literature on the applicability of this methodology in breeding programs. Hence, to show the importance of this graphical tool in various breeding programs, we have only highlighted some of the papers published during the last two years (2020–2022) for each crop (Table 2). The GGE biplot methodology is a graphical tool that superbly helps breeders to interpret the GEI in MET experiments. The first theory of this methodology was described by Yan [76], and then numerous studies used this method and reported its advantage compared with other numerical methods. The GGE biplot includes of a set of biplot interpretation models, whereby important questions regarding genotype and environment evaluation can be visually addressed [77]. The detailed description of this methodology and interpretation of each biplot can be found in the review of Yan and Tinker [77].

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Bonds funds offer higher yields, yes, but then you get more risk, too. Two stability indices, the GGE Distance (GGED) and GGE Instability index (GGEIN), can be calculated by the GGE biplot model. The GGED measures the distance of each genotype from the ‘‘ideal’’ genotype, which is defined as the virtual genotype that has the highest mean performance and stability. The GGEIN parameter approximates the genotype’s contribution to the GEI [78]. The GGE biplot methodology is one of the analytical tools, which alone or in combination with other methods is commonly used for the analysis of the GEI in various crops.

This software is compatible with UNIX platforms, Windows, and MacOSX, and it provides information on both Pearson’s and Spearman’s rank-order correlation coefficients among measured stability statistics. It’s this so-called insurance wrapper that enables stable value funds to deliver the higher yields of short-term bonds with the same low-risk of a money market mutual fund. Many stable value funds spread their insurance contracts among multiple insurers or banks to add an important layer of risk diversification. That way if one insurer defaults or is unable to meet its obligations, the fund overall won’t lose much, if any, money.

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Using this software, breeders can obtain more information about AMMI families. Using this software, the researcher can compute the AMM model and GGE biplot analyses. Zali et al. [42] also proposed the absolute value of relative contribution IPCA as another statistic to measure of stability. Similarly to Da, genotypes with the lowest value of this statistic are the most stable. Where W2 is Wricke’s ecovalence, and p and q are the numbers of genotypes and environments, respectively. Founded in 1988 (and formerly known as Institutional Premium Class fund), Fidelity removed this fund’s investment minimum so investors with any budget size could get into the low-cost index fund action.

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Based on the AMMI’s output, several stability statistics have been proposed by different researchers for evaluating genotypes. Since the rank of genotypes in the specific environments cannot be done according to the phenotypic values, the stability of test genotypes has to be estimated independently of the genotypic effect. To solve this challenge, a correction of ranking patterns of test genotypes and environments based on the corrected phenotypic values was developed.

That is, it checks if the distribution of Y is different from the data on which the model was trained on. The United States is still widely considered to be the bastion of the Free World. Therefore, the United States is widely considered to be a politically stable country; however, this is something that has been tested significantly during the past few years. Efforts are being made to undermine free elections in the United States by casting doubt on whether the ballots that are cast are fair.

First, it is very difficult for a government to support its citizens if there is no stability. If a country is considered politically unstable, the people who run the country are going to be more concerned about keeping themselves in power and less concerned about providing the necessary support for its people. Furthermore, political stability is important because it allows countries to form alliances with others. If a country is deemed politically unstable, it will be difficult for other countries to take the leader of that country seriously. Finally, political stability is also important from a safety perspective.

The S&P 500 is highly influential as a measure of the health of the stock markets. It also is used as the basis for many index mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. These funds mirror the contents of the index, buying the same stocks in the same amounts as are represented in the index. That said, just because you have a 401(k) doesn’t mean you’ll be able to invest in a stable value fund. According to the Plan Sponsor Council of America, more than 30% of plans lack stable value fund offerings, though this number shrinks for larger plans with at 1,000 participants. But considering about 85% of the world’s population lives in developing countries, investors who have a long-term focus and are comfortable with volatility seriously may want to consider investing in this fund.

Progress in computer sciences and programming languages has resulted in the advent of various script codes and software that help breeders to analyze the big data sets in their experiments. In other words, the breeder using these tools can better interpret the GEI effect and select the best genotypes with an acceptable accuracy. For AMGE1, N is one; for AMGEV, N is the number of IPCs that are retained in the AMMI model via validation procedures; for AMGEF, N is the number of IPC that retain in the AMMI model via F-tests. Farshadfar [41] developed a stability statistic based on the rank of mean yield of genotype across environments (RY) and rank of ASV value (RASV). According to this criterion, a genotype with the highest value of GSI would be more stable. As shown in the following equation, ith genotype is deleted from the entire set of data, and the GEI variance from this subset is the stability index for the ith genotype [18].

The index structure can mask strength or weakness in smaller companies if the movements diverge from those of larger-cap companies. In 2022, the fund fell more than 18%, almost identical to the S&P 500’s losses for the year. Like its benchmark index, the fund was up about 12% in the first four-and-a-half months of 2024.

This is calculated by taking an equal dollar amount of each stock and figuring out how many shares would be needed to reach that amount. For instance, an equal-weighted index where all components start at $1,000 would take 1,000 divided by the share price to get the number of shares needed. The S&P 500 is considered an effective representation of the economy due to its inclusion of 500 companies, which covers most U.S. industries. In contrast, the DJIA is made up of 30 companies, leading to a more narrow reflection.

The fund was up about 12% as of mid-May 2024, almost identical to the S&P 500 index’s year-to-date gains. Usually when the PSI is large, the separation between distributions become more pronounced. ‘Actual %’ points to the current data (that belongs to a more recent model scoring). Scoring runs means, the trained model being used to make predictions on batches of data over time. More popular use of PSI now is to keep a tab on the distribution of the model’s predictions during subsequent scoring runs.

The ETF is underweighted in tech stocks, which don’t tend to pay generous dividends. Over the past thirty years, various macro codes have been released by researchers to compute some stability statistics. Piepho [105] published the first SAS’s code, which only was able to calculate the Shukla’s stability variance (σ2), coefficient of variance (CV), and deviation from regression (Sdi2).

It is clear that the selection of genotypes for target environment(s) is affected by the GEI effect. For this reason, over the three past decades, numerous statistical models and approaches have been proposed to analyze GEI as well as identify the high-yielding and most stable genotypes. This fact is not unexpected in that each stability parameter or statistic result shows a specialist ranking pattern for genotypes. Some of these models are based on the genotypic contribution to GE variance, and some are based on G + GE (e.g., univariate or multivariate). Models and/or methods based on G + GE are more repeatable if they are calculated within mega-environments because mean yield is more repeatable.

To appreciate how stable value funds operate, it’s useful to first review the mechanics of how bond funds perform as a bond fund is the core component of a stable value fund. While high-quality bond funds are low-risk investments that are much less volatile than stocks, there’s still no guarantee that the value of a bond fund won’t decline when interest rates rise. Perhaps turn to stable value funds, a potential goldilocks solution that may already be available in your workplace retirement plan. Thematic investors wanting to capitalize on a long-term secular trend should check out the ROBO Global Robotics and Automation Index ETF (ROBO -0.54%). The index fund’s benchmark is the Robo Global Robotics and Automation Index, which tracks 77 robotics, automation, and artificial intelligence (AI) companies.

The Vanguard ETF may also appeal to investors concerned about inflation since real estate is traditionally seen as a hedge against rising prices elsewhere. Consumer staples and utility stocks each make up less than 1% of the fund’s value. As of April 30, 2024, the fund’s average annual return over five years (before taxes) was almost 16% compared to about 13% for the S&P 500. As tech stocks surge, the Vanguard Growth ETF has outperformed the S&P 500 in the first four months of 2024. Our picks for the nine best index funds for this year can help you accomplish a variety of investment goals. An index fund can be either a mutual fund or an exchange-traded fund (ETF), both of which are managed by investment advisers who have to register with the U.S.