# Determining the distribution of data

Hi, I am a student learning financial modelling. I would like some help in determining the distribution of the data given the plots above. I am reluctant to assume normal distribution of the data due to the heavy tails associated with it. The descriptive output is as follows:

summary statistics

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min:  -6.278521   max:  6.278521
median:  0
mean:  -0.0001706449
estimated sd:  0.3364102
estimated skewness:  -1.695425
estimated kurtosis:  250.3603
> kurtosis(data)
[1] 246.7675

• Will hist, density plot, ks test give any help insights? Also, check this answer: stats.stackexchange.com/questions/132652/… – Sixiang.Hu Apr 10 '18 at 11:00
• I do not seem to see the qq-plot mentioned. I would be more worried about the apparent relationship between variance and index than about normality itself. – mdewey Apr 10 '18 at 11:00
• What is "index"? Is it simply arbitrary? What is the variable? Please show the QQ plot that you mentioned. A density plot would also be good. You can also do quantile plots against a variety of theoretical distributions. – Peter Flom - Reinstate Monica Apr 10 '18 at 11:34
• Given the super-long tails, check the Cauchy distribution – Tim Apr 10 '18 at 12:17
• It's rarely --if ever-- the case in statistics that one can (or needs) to determine the distribution of the data. The objective in statistics is to determine the distribution of the parameters. – user603 Apr 10 '18 at 12:25