Equals

10 x 10 – 9 x 9 + 8 x 8 – 7 x 7 + 6 x 6 – 5 x 5 + 4 x 4 - 3 x 3 + 2 x 2 - 1 x 1

=

10 + 9 + 8 + 7 +  6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1

=

the number of unique variances + unique covariances 10 stocks will have 

and similarly… 

8 x 8 – 7 x 7 + 6 x 6 – 5 x 5 + 4 x 4 - 3 x 3 + 2 x 2 - 1 x 1

=

8 + 7 +  6 + 5 + 4 + 3 + 2 + 1

=

the number of unique variances + unique covariances 8 stocks will have 

but…

-1 x -1 + 2 x 2 – 3 x 3 + 4 x 4 – 5 x 5

Doesn’t equal

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5

Goofy huh.

I’ll leave you with this…

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