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What is “beta” for an investment or a portfolio, and how do I use it?
In addition to individual stocks, your entire portfolio will also have a beta.  It would be equal to the weighted sum of the individual asset betas  So a beta portfolio of 1 would have approximate risk equal to a market index. You would use this to construct a risk level that you were comfortable with, given the expected return of the individual assets.  You are also interested in obtaining a high level of "alpha" which means that your portfolio is earning more than what would be expected, given it's level of risk.