Mean Function with Matrix

I have a 3740x5 matrix called 'Rets'. I want to find the mean of every column vector. I tried using the function mean(Rets) and this is what I get:

 mean(Rets)

ans =

    1.0e-03 *

    0.1591    0.2098    0.1475   -0.0623   -0.8807

I should only have 5 values in this row vector (from 0.1591 to -0.8807, as shown above), why do I have 6 values? I understand 1.0e-03 is the average of all the values in the row vector. So here is my question: How can I create a vector that only has these 5 values I need? Thanks!

[John D'Errico]

Look at the little * there. * means multiplication in matlab.

[civs]

Hi John, thanks for your answer. Please see my answer to James Tursa below.

Answer 1

[James Tursa]

There are five values listed. Each of the five values in the 2nd row is multiplied by the factor 1.0e-3. It is MATLAB's way of writing the following equivalent information:

0.1591e-3    0.2098e-3    0.1475e-3   -0.0623e-3   -0.8807e-3

To convince yourself of this, do the following:

size(ans)

[civs]

Hi James, Thank you very much for your answer. This makes perfect sense, however, I have another vector called 'Wmin', these are the asset weights of a portfolio:

>> Wmin

Wmin =

    0.0211
    0.2977
    0.4616
    0.1835
    0.0361

I created the vector mean_ret_assets= mean(Rets). I tried element-wise multiplication Wmin.*mean_ret_assets and I get an error that says:

>> Wmin.*mean_ret_assets Error using .* Matrix dimensions must agree.

If the two vectors have 5 elements, why am I getting this error? I don't understand. Thanks again!

[James Tursa]

One is a row vector and the other is a column vector. You can't element-wise multiply a 1x5 with a 5x1. To get around this, e.g., you could turn the row vector into a column vector with the (:) notation, like this:

Wmin.*mean_ret_assets(:)

[civs]

James, THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!! It's looking good now, thank you thank you!!! :)