The article How to Calculate the Regression of 2 Stocks Using Excel originally appeared on Fool.com. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days .

The first step in running regression analysis in Excel is to double-check that the free plugin Data Analysis ToolPak is installed. This plugin makes calculating a range of statistics very easy.

Microsoft Excel serves as a tool to organize data and calculate beta. What Is Beta? An index of 1.0 is commonly selected as the benchmark for a market index like the S&P 500 index.