<Tr> <Td> 0 <β <1 </Td> <Td> Asset moves in the same direction, but in a lesser amount than the benchmark </Td> <Td> Stable, "staple" stock such as a company that makes soap . Moves in the same direction as the market at large, but less susceptible to day - to - day fluctuation . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> β = 1 </Td> <Td> Asset moves in the same direction and in the same amount as the benchmark </Td> <Td> A representative stock, or a stock that is a strong contributor to the index itself . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> β> 1 </Td> <Td> Asset moves in the same direction, but in a greater amount than the benchmark </Td> <Td> Stocks which are very strongly influenced by day - to - day market news, or by the general health of the economy . </Td> </Tr> <P> It measures the part of the asset's statistical variance that cannot be removed by the diversification provided by the portfolio of many risky assets, because of the correlation of its returns with the returns of the other assets that are in the portfolio . Beta can be estimated for individual companies using regression analysis against a stock market index . An alternative to standard beta is downside beta . </P>

A company that has a high amount of debt relative to the value of its assets will have very little