nep-for New Economics Papers
on Forecasting
Issue of 2023‒07‒10
two papers chosen by
Rob J Hyndman
Monash University

  1. Forecasting the Performance of US Stock Market Indices During COVID-19: RF vs LSTM By Reza Nematirad; Amin Ahmadisharaf; Ali Lashgari
  2. Hierarchical forecasting for aggregated curves with an application to day-ahead electricity price auctions By Paul Ghelasi; Florian Ziel

  1. By: Reza Nematirad; Amin Ahmadisharaf; Ali Lashgari
    Abstract: The US stock market experienced instability following the recession (2007-2009). COVID-19 poses a significant challenge to US stock traders and investors. Traders and investors should keep up with the stock market. This is to mitigate risks and improve profits by using forecasting models that account for the effects of the pandemic. With consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic after the recession, two machine learning models, including Random Forest and LSTM are used to forecast two major US stock market indices. Data on historical prices after the big recession is used for developing machine learning models and forecasting index returns. To evaluate the model performance during training, cross-validation is used. Additionally, hyperparameter optimizing, regularization, such as dropouts and weight decays, and preprocessing improve the performances of Machine Learning techniques. Using high-accuracy machine learning techniques, traders and investors can forecast stock market behavior, stay ahead of their competition, and improve profitability. Keywords: COVID-19, LSTM, S&P500, Random Forest, Russell 2000, Forecasting, Machine Learning, Time Series JEL Code: C6, C8, G4.
    Date: 2023–06
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2306.03620&r=for
  2. By: Paul Ghelasi; Florian Ziel
    Abstract: Aggregated curves are common structures in economics and finance, and the most prominent examples are supply and demand curves. In this study, we exploit the fact that all aggregated curves have an intrinsic hierarchical structure, and thus hierarchical reconciliation methods can be used to improve the forecast accuracy. We provide an in-depth theory on how aggregated curves can be constructed or deconstructed, and conclude that these methods are equivalent under weak assumptions. We consider multiple reconciliation methods for aggregated curves, including previously established bottom-up, top-down, and linear optimal reconciliation approaches. We also present a new benchmark reconciliation method called 'aggregated-down' with similar complexity to bottom-up and top-down approaches, but it tends to provide better accuracy in this setup. We conducted an empirical forecasting study on the German day-ahead power auction market by predicting the demand and supply curves, where their equilibrium determines the electricity price for the next day. Our results demonstrate that hierarchical reconciliation methods can be used to improve the forecasting accuracy of aggregated curves.
    Date: 2023–05
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2305.16255&r=for

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