Bayesian outlier detection in Capital Asset Pricing Model

We propose a novel Bayesian optimisation procedure for outlier detection in the Capital Asset Pricing Model. We use a parametric product partition model to robustly estimate the systematic risk of an asset. We assume that the returns follow independent normal distributions and we impose a partition structure on the parameters of interest. The partition structure imposed on the parameters induces a corresponding clustering of the returns. We identify via an optimisation procedure the partition that best separates standard observations from the atypical ones. The methodology is illustrated with reference to a real data set, for which we also provide a microeconomic interpretation of the detected outliers

Extreme Value Theory Filtering Techniques for Outlier Detection

We introduce asymptotic parameter-free hypothesis tests based on extreme value theory to detect outlying observations in finite samples. Our tests have nontrivial power for detecting outliers for general forms of the parent distribution and can be implemented when this is unknown and needs to be estimated. Using these techniques this article also develops an algorithm to uncover outliers masked by the presence of influential observations

Robust estimation of dimension reduction space

Most dimension reduction methods based on nonparametric smoothing are highly sensitive to outliers and to data coming from heavy-tailed distributions. We show that the recently proposed methods by Xia et al. (2002) can be made robust in such a way that preserves all advantages of the original approach. Their extension based on the local one-step M-estimators is su±ciently robust to outliers and data from heavy tailed distributions, it is relatively easy to implement, and surprisingly, it performs as well as the original methods when applied to normally distributed data.Dimension reduction, Nonparametric regression, M-estimation

Intraday forecasts of a volatility index: Functional time series methods with dynamic updating

As a forward-looking measure of future equity market volatility, the VIX index has gained immense popularity in recent years to become a key measure of risk for market analysts and academics. We consider discrete reported intraday VIX tick values as realisations of a collection of curves observed sequentially on equally spaced and dense grids over time and utilise functional data analysis techniques to produce one-day-ahead forecasts of these curves. The proposed method facilitates the investigation of dynamic changes in the index over very short time intervals as showcased using the 15-second high-frequency VIX index values. With the help of dynamic updating techniques, our point and interval forecasts are shown to enjoy improved accuracy over conventional time series models.Comment: 29 pages, 5 figures, To appear at the Annals of Operations Researc

Two Procedures for Robust Monitoring of Probability Distributions of Economic Data Streams induced by Depth Functions

Data streams (streaming data) consist of transiently observed, evolving in time, multidimensional data sequences that challenge our computational and/or inferential capabilities. In this paper we propose user friendly approaches for robust monitoring of selected properties of unconditional and conditional distribution of the stream basing on depth functions. Our proposals are robust to a small fraction of outliers and/or inliers but sensitive to a regime change of the stream at the same time. Their implementations are available in our free R package DepthProc.Comment: Operations Research and Decisions, vol. 25, No. 1, 201