An Improved Stock Price Prediction using Hybrid Market Indicators

In this paper the effect of hybrid market indicators is examined for an improved stock price prediction. The hybrid market indicators consist of technical, fundamental and expert opinion variables as input to artificial neural networks model. The empirical results obtained with published stock data of Dell and Nokia obtained from New York Stock Exchange shows that the proposed model can be effective to improve accuracy of stock price prediction

Nonlinear Combination of Financial Forecast with Genetic Algorithm

Complexity in the financial markets requires intelligent forecasting models for return volatility. In this paper, historical simulation, GARCH, GARCH with skewed student-t distribution and asymmetric normal mixture GRJ-GARCH models are combined with Extreme Value Theory Hill by using artificial neural networks with genetic algorithm as the combination platform. By employing daily closing values of the Istanbul Stock Exchange from 01/10/1996 to 11/07/2006, Kupiec and Christoffersen tests as the back-testing mechanisms are performed for forecast comparison of the models. Empirical findings show that the fat-tails are more properly captured by the combination of GARCH with skewed student-t distribution and Extreme Value Theory Hill. Modeling return volatility in the emerging markets needs “intelligent” combinations of Value-at-Risk models to capture the extreme movements in the markets rather than individual model forecast.Forecast combination; Artificial neural networks; GARCH models; Extreme value theory; Christoffersen test

Forecasting foreign exchange rates with adaptive neural networks using radial basis functions and particle swarm optimization

The motivation for this paper is to introduce a hybrid Neural Network architecture of Particle Swarm Optimization and Adaptive Radial Basis Function (ARBF-PSO), a time varying leverage trading strategy based on Glosten, Jagannathan and Runkle (GJR) volatility forecasts and a Neural Network fitness function for financial forecasting purposes. This is done by benchmarking the ARBF-PSO results with those of three different Neural Networks architectures, a Nearest Neighbors algorithm (k-NN), an autoregressive moving average model (ARMA), a moving average convergence/divergence model (MACD) plus a naïve strategy. More specifically, the trading and statistical performance of all models is investigated in a forecast simulation of the EUR/USD, EUR/GBP and EUR/JPY ECB exchange rate fixing time series over the period January 1999 to March 2011 using the last two years for out-of-sample testing

Modelling and trading the Greek stock market with gene expression and genetic programing algorithms

This paper presents an application of the gene expression programming (GEP) and integrated genetic programming (GP) algorithms to the modelling of ASE 20 Greek index. GEP and GP are robust evolutionary algorithms that evolve computer programs in the form of mathematical expressions, decision trees or logical expressions. The results indicate that GEP and GP produce significant trading performance when applied to ASE 20 and outperform the well-known existing methods. The trading performance of the derived models is further enhanced by applying a leverage filter

Money makes the world go round ... about the necessity of nonlinear techniques in interest rate forecasting

One of the key variables for a bank's management is the development of the "risk-free interest rate", which is the reference for all bond and loan rates as well as an indicator for the state of the economy and therefore the bank"s future perspectives. Turning towards long-term analysis, the risk-free rate is usually supposed to be the return of a superior-rated government bond (in most cases the return of the German 10-year Government Bond). Due to the importance of this risk-free rate, nearly all large economic and financial institutions deal with the analysis of its future development. In this paper we try to find out whether modelling non-linear relationships between variables can enhance forecast ability. We apply multi-layer perceptrons (MLP) as non-linear modelling tool beside an error correction model and a basic structural model with ARMA terms. Using seasonally unadjusted monthly data from 1960-2003, we forecast the interest rate for a two year hold-out sample. The obtained results give evidence of the underlying non-linearity of the problem. The MLP outperform the classical tools with regard to different error measures.Neural Networks, Interest Rate Forecasting

A forecasting of indices and corresponding investment decision making application

Student Number : 9702018F - MSc(Eng) Dissertation - School of Electrical and Information Engineering - Faculty of Engineering and the Built EnvironmentDue to the volatile nature of the world economies, investing is crucial in ensuring an individual is prepared for future financial necessities. This research proposes an application, which employs computational intelligent methods that could assist investors in making financial decisions. This system consists of 2 components. The Forecasting Component (FC) is employed to predict the closing index price performance. Based on these predictions, the Stock Quantity Selection Component (SQSC) recommends the investor to purchase stocks, hold the current investment position or sell stocks in possession. The development of the FC module involved the creation of Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) as well as Radial Basis Function (RBF) neural network classifiers. TCategorizes that these networks classify are based on a profitable trading strategy that outperforms the long-term “Buy and hold” trading strategy. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) All Share, Nasdaq 100 and the Nikkei 225 Stock Average indices are considered. TIt has been determined that the MLP neural network architecture is particularly suited in the prediction of closing index price performance. Accuracies of 72%, 68%, 69% and 64% were obtained for the prediction of closing price performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JSE All Share, Nasdaq 100 and Nikkei 225 Stock Average indices, respectively. TThree designs of the Stock Quantity Selection Component were implemented and compared in terms of their complexity as well as scalability. TComplexity is defined as the number of classifiers employed by the design. Scalability is defined as the ability of the design to accommodate the classification of additional investment recommendations. TDesigns that utilized 1, 4 and 16 classifiers, respectively, were developed. These designs were implemented using MLP neural networks, RBF neural networks, Fuzzy Inference Systems as well as Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference Systems. The design that employed 4 classifiers achieved low complexity and high scalability. As a result, this design is most appropriate for the application of concern. It has also been determined that the neural network architecture as well as the Fuzzy Inference System implementation of this design performed equally well