17 (10 points) A company has 100,000 yuan for investment. If it invests in Project A, according to market analysis, it is known that: after one year, there is a possibility of gaining $10\%$, a possibility of losing $10\%$, or no profit and no loss. The probabilities of these three scenarios are $\frac{1}{2}$, $\frac{1}{4}$, and $\frac{1}{4}$, respectively. If it invests in Project B, after one year, there is a possibility of gaining $20\%$ or losing $20\%$, with probabilities $\alpha$ and $\beta$ ($\alpha + \beta = 1$), respectively.
(1) If 100,000 yuan is invested in Project A, let $\xi$ represent the investment return (return = recovered funds - investment funds). Find the probability distribution of $\xi$ and $E \xi$;
(2) If the average return on investing 100,000 yuan in Project B is no less than the average return on investing in Project A, find the range of values for $\alpha$.
(17) (1) According to the problem, the possible values of $\xi$ are $1, 0, -1$. The distribution of $\xi$ is as follows:
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|c|}
\hline$\xi$ & 1 & 0 & -1 \\
\hline$p$ & $\frac{1}{2}$ & $\frac{1}{4}$ & $\frac{1}{4}$ \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
$$
E \xi=\frac{1}{2}-\frac{1}{4}=\frac{1}{4} .
$$
(2) Let $\eta$ represent the returns from investing 100,000 yuan in project B. The distribution of $\eta$ is as follows:
\begin{tabular}{|c|c|c|}
\hline$\eta$ & 2 & -2 \\
\hline$p$ & $\alpha$ & $\beta$ \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
$$
E \eta=2 \alpha-2 \beta=4 \alpha-2 .
$$

According to the problem, it is required that $4 \alpha-2 \geqslant \frac{1}{4}$, so $1 \geqslant \alpha \geqslant \frac{9}{16}$.