Name:   architect - Subject:   The density of your gray cells is amazing to me Date:   3/9/2016 8:32:51 AM (updated 3/9/2016 8:41:48 AM)

to put it in language you may understand with an example in reverse...if on Jan 1 you deposit $100,000 in company profits, then on Feb 1 you deposit $140,000 (things lookin good ain't they MM) and $120,000 on March 1, $100,000 on April 1, $80,000 on May 1 and close out the 2d qtr with a deposit $60,000 (uh oh what's happenin MM) June 1. The average profit is $100,000 whether you include all 6 months or just the 5 months Feb - June.  So on average the profits are flat, but I suspect, as a the  smart businessman you always love to let it be known you are, you would be concerned with the "trend" being established!!

Was your private school education so lacking that you are unable to understand what an "average" represents or what a "trend" is?! You see in "basic" mathmatics, if there is a sudden spike in a sequence used to establish an average it is still included to establish the average, but in "basic" science smart people stand back and take another look at the whole sequence before determination what the trend is.  If there is an outlier with an verifiable cause it may not be as relevant to determination of the "trend" regardless of its relevance to the average!