Showing posts with label forecasting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forecasting. Show all posts

Introduction to Time Series and Forecasting Review

Introduction to Time Series and Forecasting
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Very good introductory book to ARMA models. Full of real-life examples that provide some intuitive insight about the issues that may arise when modelling time series and forecasting. Requires some initial knowledge in statistics and algebra but if you're involved in time series modelling, it should be your first book.

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This is an introduction to time series that emphasizes methods and analysis of data sets. The logic and tools of model-building for stationary and non-stationary time series are developed and numerous exercises, many of which make use of the included computer package, provide the reader with ample opportunity to develop skills. Statisticians and students will learn the latest methods in time series and forecasting, along with modern computational models and algorithms.

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Understanding Economic Forecasts Review

Understanding Economic Forecasts
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This collection of essays addresses economic forecasting.
As a non-professional I found it somewhat informative but it suffered from being rather dry. It addressed forecasting from a theoretical point of view but didn't do enough to enliven a subject. There's not enough here to really show the reader how forecasting is really done and how it can be usefully employed. There is also little guidance for the lay person in how to regard forecasts, either as useless guesses to fill newspaper column inches or the time between commercial breaks on CNBC or as useful predictions on the future.

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Historically, the theory of forecasting that underpinned actual practicein economics has been based on two key assumptions?-that the model was a goodrepresentation of the economy and that the structure of the economy would remainrelatively unchanged. In reality, forecast models are mis-specified, the economy issubject to unanticipated shifts, and the failure to make accurate predictions isrelatively common.In the last decade, economists have developed new theories ofeconomic forecasting and additional methods of forecast evaluation that make lessstringent assumptions. These theories and methods acknowledge that the economy isdynamic and prone to sudden shifts. They also recognize that forecasting models,however good, are greatly simplified representations that will be incorrect in somerespects. One advantage of these newer approaches is that we can now account for thedifferent results of competing forecasts.In this book academic specialists,practitioners, and a financial journalist explain these new developments in economicforecasting. The authors discuss how forecasting is conducted, evaluated, reported,and applied by academic, private, and governmental bodies, as well as howforecasting might be taught and what costs are induced by forecast errors. They alsodescribe how econometric models for forecasting are constructed, how properties offorecasting methods can be analyzed, and what the future of economic forecasting maybring.

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Modelling Financial Times Series Review

Modelling Financial Times Series
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The first edition was published in 1986. It is EXCELLENT. Taylor rigorously studies the use of nonlinear time-series (Box-Jenkins) methods to trade a variety of financial markets, including individual stocks, stock indices, currencies, metals, and agricultural commodities, finding that there is a small trend component in most markets that can be profitably traded. Taylor performed testing of time series back in the early 1980s, when computer power and financial data was much scarcer and more expensive. I am excited to see what he has come up with, now that computers and data are a zillion times cheaper.

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Empirical Modeling in Economics: Specification and Evaluation Review

Empirical Modeling in Economics: Specification and Evaluation
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This is probably the first and the last econometrics book I will have read just for fun! Although the title of the book sounds daunting, I found it very easy to read. If you are interested in intutions behind building econometric models, you should consider reading this book. A word of caution: if you want to find something that treats this subject rigorously, this may not be the book you want to buy. Just to have fun with econometrics is the general idea here.

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In these three essays, Professor Granger explains the process of constructing and evaluating an empirical model. Drawing on a wide range of cases and vignettes from economics, finance, politics and environment economics, as well as from art, literature, and the entertainment industry, Professor Granger combines rigor with intuition to provide a unique and entertaining insight into one of the most important subjects in modern economics. Chapter 1 deals with Specification. Chapter 2 considers Evaluation, and argues that insufficent evaluation is undertaken by economists, and that models should be evaluated in terms of the quality of their output. In Chapter 3, the question of how to evaluate forecasts is considered at several levels of increasing depth.

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Introduction to Time Series Modeling (Chapman & Hall/CRC Monographs on Statistics & Applied Probability) Review

Introduction to Time Series Modeling (Chapman and Hall/CRC Monographs on Statistics and Applied Probability)
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Here is the table of contents from the CRC site.
Introduction and Preparatory Analysis
Time Series Data
Classification of Time Series
Objectives of Time Series Analysis
Preprocessing of Time Series
Organization of This Book
The Covariance Function
The Distribution of Time Series and Stationarity
The Autocovariance Function of Stationary Time Series
Estimation of the Autocovariance Function
Multivariate Time Series and Scatterplots
Cross-Covariance Function and Cross-Correlation Function
The Power Spectrum and the Periodogram
The Power Spectrum
The Periodogram
Averaging and Smoothing of the Periodogram
Computational Method of Periodogram
Computation of the Periodogram by Fast Fourier Transform
Statistical Modeling
Probability Distributions and Statistical Models
K-L Information and the Entropy Maximization Principle
Estimation of the K-L Information and Log-Likelihood
Estimation of Parameters by the Maximum Likelihood Method
Akaike Information Criterion (AIC)
Transformation of Data
The Least Squares Method
Regression Models and the Least Squares Method
Householder Transformation Method
Selection of Order by AIC
Addition of Data and Successive Householder Reduction
Variable Selection by AIC
Analysis of Time Series Using ARMA Models
ARMA Model
The Impulse Response Function
The Autocovariance Function
The Relation between AR Coefficients and the PARCOR
The Power Spectrum of the ARMA Process
The Characteristic Equation
The Multivariate AR Model
Estimation of an AR Model
Fitting an AR Model
Yule-Walker Method and Levinson's Algorithm
Estimation of an AR Model by the Least Squares Method
Estimation of an AR Model by the PARCOR Method
Large Sample Distribution of the Estimates
Yule-Walker Method for MAR Model
Least Squares Method for MAR Model
The Locally Stationary AR Model
Locally Stationary AR Model
Automatic Partitioning of the Time Interval
Precise Estimation of a Change Point
Analysis of Time Series with a State-Space Model
The State-Space Model
State Estimation via the Kalman Filter
Smoothing Algorithms
Increasing Horizon Prediction of the State
Prediction of Time Series
Likelihood Computation and Parameter Estimation for a Time Series Model
Interpolation of Missing Observations
Estimation of the ARMA Model
State-Space Representation of the ARMA Model
Initial State of an ARMA Model
Maximum Likelihood Estimate of an ARMA Model
Initial Estimates of Parameters
Estimation of Trends
The Polynomial Trend Model
Trend Component Model--Model for Probabilistic Structural Changes
Trend Model
The Seasonal Adjustment Model
Seasonal Component Model
Standard Seasonal Adjustment Model
Decomposition Including an AR Component
Decomposition Including a Trading-Day Effect
Time-Varying Coefficient AR Model
Time-Varying Variance Model
Time-Varying Coefficient AR Model
Estimation of the Time-Varying Spectrum
The Assumption on System Noise for the Time-Varying Coefficient AR Model
Abrupt Changes of Coefficients
Non-Gaussian State-Space Model
Necessity of Non-Gaussian Models
Non-Gaussian State-Space Models and State Estimation
Numerical Computation of the State Estimation Formula
Non-Gaussian Trend Model
A Time-Varying Variance Model
Applications of Non-Gaussian State-Space Model
The Sequential Monte Carlo Filter
The Nonlinear Non-Gaussian State-Space Model and Approximations of Distributions
Monte Carlo Filter
Monte Carlo Smoothing Method
Nonlinear Smoothing
Simulation
Generation of Uniform Random Numbers
Generation of Gaussian White Noise
Simulation Using a State-Space Model
Simulation with Non-Gaussian Model
Appendix A: Algorithms for Nonlinear Optimization
Appendix B: Derivation of Levinson's Algorithm
Appendix C: Derivation of the Kalman Filter and Smoother Algorithms
Appendix D: Algorithm for the Monte Carlo Filter
Bibliography

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In time series modeling, the behavior of a certain phenomenon is expressed in relation to the past values of itself and other covariates. Since many important phenomena in statistical analysis are actually time series and the identification of conditional distribution of the phenomenon is an essential part of the statistical modeling, it is very important and useful to learn fundamental methods of time series modeling. Illustrating how to build models for time series using basic methods, Introduction to Time Series Modeling covers numerous time series models and the various tools for handling them.The book employs the state-space model as a generic tool for time series modeling and presents convenient recursive filtering and smoothing methods, including the Kalman filter, the non-Gaussian filter, and the sequential Monte Carlo filter, for the state-space models. Taking a unified approach to model evaluation based on the entropy maximization principle advocated by Dr. Akaike, the author derives various methods of parameter estimation, such as the least squares method, the maximum likelihood method, recursive estimation for state-space models, and model selection by the Akaike information criterion (AIC). Along with simulation methods, he also covers standard stationary time series models, such as AR and ARMA models, as well as nonstationary time series models, including the locally stationary AR model, the trend model, the seasonal adjustment model, and the time-varying coefficient AR model.With a focus on the description, modeling, prediction, and signal extraction of times series, this book provides basic tools for analyzing time series that arise in real-world problems. It encourages readers to build models for their own real-life problems.

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Introduction to Management Science: A Modeling and Case Studies Approach with Spreadsheets Review

Introduction to Management Science: A Modeling and Case Studies Approach with Spreadsheets
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Factors that contributed to a low rating for this book include, a lack of user-friendliness and lengthy case studies. The blue colored wordings (black would be better) can be quite glaring under the lights making it not smoothing to the eyes.
Furthermore, it uses long case studies which could have been shortened by cutting down on the introductions to the companies it made reference to. More focus should be given to concepts at the earlier stage of every section, instead of making the reader running through a lengthy introduction before focusing on the concepts.
Important concepts could also have been left out. One example would be the omission of 'Reduced Cost' under the chapters of Linear Programming and Integer Programming.
However, this book is certainly catered to users of MS Excel. It has in-depth discussions of Excel in areas of Management Science

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These authors are well known for their best selling text, Introduction to Operations Research.This new text is also headed for great success, as it offers a unique case-study approach, and it integrates the use of Excel.Each chapter includes a case study which is meant to show the students a real and interesting application of the topics addressed in that chapter...--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Electrical Load Forecasting: Modeling and Model Construction Review

Electrical Load Forecasting: Modeling and Model Construction
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I wanted to alert Amazon that the other review given here is not related to this book.
I just purchased the book from Amazon; and am still going through it. But so far I am disappointed.
It appears that the book has not been closely edited, perhaps, to meet a dead line. The first 50 pages contained multiple typos in the numerical examples provided to illustrate the matrix theory background. These errors actually obscure the point that the author wanted to illustrate, e.g., the marix diagonalization example ends up with a non-diagonal matrix. I fervently hope that rest of the book is better edited.
I will report as I progress.

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Event History Modeling: A Guide for Social Scientists (Analytical Methods for Social Research) Review

Event History Modeling: A Guide for Social Scientists (Analytical Methods for Social Research)
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This is excerpted and slightly modified from a published review (Perspectives on Politics Volume 3, June 2005) I wrote of this book, which I like quite a bit and regularly recommend and assign to my political science graduate students.
Event History Modeling: A Guide for Social Scientists provides a broad and in-depth introduction to duration analysis for political scientists and for social scientists in general. This book will instantly become the go-to guide for most political scientists interested in event history analysis and should become a staple on syllabi for graduate courses for years to come. The authors cover a broad range of important topics, employing a combination of mathematical detail and verbal discussion; important concepts are illustrated with examples using political science data that readers can download. For a book on statistical methods, Event History Modeling is quite readable and the authors do a commendable job of presenting a great variety of issues and making clear recommendations.

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Here is an accessible, up-to-date guide to event history analysis for researchers and advanced students in the social sciences.The foundational principles of event history analysis are discussed and ample examples are estimated and interpreted using standard statistical packages, such as STATA and S-Plus.Recent and critical innovations in diagnostics are discussed, including testing the proportional hazards assumption, identifying outliers, and assessing model fit.The treatment of complicated events includes coverage of unobserved heterogeneity, repeated events, and competing risks models. The authors point out common problems in the analysis of time-to-event data in the social sciences and make recommendations regarding the implementation of duration modeling methods.

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Modeling and Forecasting Electricity Loads and Prices: A Statistical Approach (The Wiley Finance Series) Review

Modeling and Forecasting Electricity Loads and Prices: A Statistical Approach (The Wiley Finance Series)
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A little disappointed. The book only provides blind statistical models and analysis, no fundamental approaches.

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This book offers an in-depth and up-to-date review of different statistical tools that can be used to analyze and forecast the dynamics of two crucial for every energy company processes—electricity prices and loads. It provides coverage of seasonal decomposition, mean reversion, heavy-tailed distributions, exponential smoothing, spike preprocessing, autoregressive time series including models with exogenous variables and heteroskedastic (GARCH) components, regime-switching models, interval forecasts, jump-diffusion models, derivatives pricing and the market price of risk.
Modeling and Forecasting Electricity Loads and Prices is packaged with a CD containing both the data and detailed examples of implementation of different techniques in Matlab, with additional examples in SAS. A reader can retrace all the intermediate steps of a practical implementation of a model and test his understanding of the method and correctness of the computer code using the same input data.
The book will be of particular interest to the quants employed by the utilities, independent power generators and marketers, energy trading desks of the hedge funds and financial institutions, and the executives attending courses designed to help them to brush up on their technical skills. The text will be also of use to graduate students in electrical engineering, econometrics and finance wanting to get a grip on advanced statistical tools applied in this hot area. In fact, there are sixteen Case Studies in the book making it a self-contained tutorial to electricity load and price modeling and forecasting.

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Next Generation Excel: Modeling in Excel for Analysts and MBAs (Wiley Finance) Review

Next Generation Excel: Modeling in Excel for Analysts and MBAs (Wiley Finance)
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I heartily recommend this book to anyone that uses Excel on a daily basis for business analysis or for MBA students. Early in the introduction, Dr. Gottlieb promises that if you use Excel for 10 hours a week or more, this book will save you hundreds of hours per year. He delivers!
You don't need to build an excel spreadsheet to calculate that this book is worth many times its cover price to users of excel. Even if you are a "power user" you will quiclky find tips that will make you more efficient.
I was fortunate enough to take an Excel class from Dr. Gottlieb a few years ago during the "crash math course" week while getting an MBA at Columbia University. I don't want to offend any of my esteemed professors, but those few hours with Dr. Gottlieb were probably more useful than several of my semester-long courses to me. I currently use Excel for 3-4 hours per day to analyze stocks at my hedge fund and his tips have saved me hours and helped to make my graphical representation of data look top-notch.
This book is not a basic "how-to" or "for dummies" book on Excel. It is the perfect book for you if you use Excel frequently, but are frustrated that you have to perform certain repetitive keystrokes or clicks to get it do what you want. Perhaps you want your charts to look better. Maybe you didn't even know that you could have custom lists built in, for example, instead of manually entering FQ01, FQ02, etc. You can add trend lines to graphs; you can format parts of graphs differently than other parts. You can name cells, groups of cells to make your work easier.
Dr. Gottlieb exposes the many keystroke shortcuts that can make your daily grind with Excel less laborious. His book is laid out in a very concise, neat organization. I think the best way to really benefit from it is to power through entire sections that apply to your work and try his examples. He provides some problems at the end of each chapter (he is in academia, after all) but mercifully; he provides the answers, too!
This book is only about 280 pages long, but don't let that fool you, if you compare it to some other Excel books with 800 pages. He has more time-saving information in it than books 2 or 3 times as long. The beauty of his book is everything he shows is something an analyst using Excel in the real world actually uses it for. He is not just running through every menu, detailing every useless capability of Excel, like the other books.
This is the key advantage to Dr. Gottlieb's book. He has a list of over 50,000 people that he sends his "tip of the month" to and they (like me) are not shy about emailing him questions. This gives him keen insight into what real Excel jockeys are interested in, and he addresses those issues in this book. Get it today and you will discover many things that Excel can do for you, in a much easier way than you are using it today!

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