Figure 1: The results of multiple linear regression depend on the correlation of the predictors, as measured here by the Pearson correlation coefficient r (ref. 2).

R 2 (R-squared) is a statistical measure of the goodness of fit of a linear regression model (from 0.00 to 1.00), also known as the coefficient of determination.

In this article, you'll learn the basics of simple linear regression, sometimes called 'ordinary least squares' or OLS regression —a tool commonly used in forecasting and financial analysis.