If your expected return on the individual investments in your portfolio is known or can be anticipated, you can calculate the portfolio's overall rate of return using Microsoft Excel.

If your business makes investments in equipment and employee benefit contributions, you may need to track the average annual rate of return over a span of time for financial reporting obligations.

With Excel and data from your broker, however, calculating the average return is fairly easy using the XIRR function. How to calculate average stock returns in Excel ...

How to Excel at calculating the Internal Rate of Return A blonde wanting to earn some money decided to hire herself out as a handyman-type and started canvassing a wealthy neighbourhood.

The article How to Calculate the Regression of 2 Stocks Using Excel originally appeared on Fool.com. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days .

One simple but powerful method investors can use to assess the risk and reward of a stock portfolio is using the Capital Asset Pricing Model, or CAPM, model for expected returns.

The best businesses and the most skilled management teams will typically produce a consistently high rate of return on common stock equity.