Stock Market Network Topology Analysis Based on a Minimum Spanning Tree Approach

In essence, the stock market is a complex network. The price fluctuations among variousstocks have complicated relationships. In my research, I analyze the dynamics of the stock market by virtue of graph. I make use of a Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) to probe the relationships between financial entities. Meanwhile, I take advange of Pajak, an excellent computer program for the analysis and visualization of graphs, to assess market dynamics across four famous market crashes. Dow 30 is our sample. When drawing the graphs, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Index (DJI) was included, which was always in the center of all the graphs. Furthermore, the DJI always had small volatility whenever it was used. In addition, I found that the total minimum distance of a MST would become small as crash took place, it would rise when the stock market was far away from the effects of crash. Advisors/Committee Members: Xi, Haowen.