fuagf, I will put beta definition in down to earth terms.If beta coefficient is less than 1.0 then the stock has very little PPS movement on a daily basis over a long time frame of sampling but if beta is higher..say 1.75 then one can expect considerably more swing in the avg daily prices.A high beta stock is to be preferred for scalping,daytrading and swing trading whereas a low beta stock that you feel is going to appreciate in time is better considered an investing stock...long term rather than short term.A lot of factors cause a given issue to be low or high beta including MM action and the particular trader's on the stock in question as well as average daily volume.Feel free to ask anything you like...If we dont know the answer we usually make something up(LOL).