Three Essays on Energy and Agricultural Price Analysis

This dissertation consists of three essays on energy and agricultural commodity price analysis: 1) Natural Gas Price Forecasting in a Changing World; 2) The Effect of EIA Storage Announcement on Natural Gas Returns: A Comprehensive Analysis; and 3) Forecasting the U.S. Season-Average Farm Price of Corn: Derivation of an Alternative Futures based Forecasting Model. The first essay evaluates the performances of various individual and composite forecasting models when predicting natural gas prices in the United States. The empirical results show that forecast generated by the Energy Information Administration Short-Term Energy Outlook provides a more accurate price prediction at longer forecasting horizons (6- and 12-month ahead) while futures-based forecasts perform better in the short-run (1- and 3-month ahead). Projections based on time-series models perform well at longer forecast horizons when price volatility is relatively low. Further, the Hotelling model performs well for 1- and 3-month ahead forecast horizons. Our findings further support the additional benefit of composite forecasts based on individual methods for more accurate predictions; however, the performance is not uniform at different forecasting horizons. The second essay examines how natural gas prices react to inventory surprises contained in Energy Information Administration’s weekly inventory report. Results indicate that natural gas prices are more responsive to 1) negative (more-than-expected) surprise storage news as compared to positive (less-than-expected) surprises, 2) news released during the injection season as compared to the withdrawal season, and 3) inventory surprises occurring in periods of tight supply in withdrawal season compared to when the market has an abundant supply. Finally, we find that EIA’s inventory report has exerted a smaller impact on natural gas prices over time. Possible contributing factors to this declining impact include the increasing availability of alternative information providers in the market, the relatively over-supply of natural gas during the period of analysis since the rise of unconventional production, and a more integrated regional market that can transport natural gas from production to consumption regions more efficiently. The third essay investigates an alternative futures-based procedure to forecast the season-average farm price (SAFP) for U.S. corn, an under-researched price forecast. With the exceptionally volatile conditions experienced in the corn market since 2006, the need for price forecasting has become more critical. The new model developed in this essay performs better than two widely watched season-average price forecasts (World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates and the Hoffman futures-based forecasts) at the beginning of the post-harvest season, and just as well as those forecasts at the beginning of the forecast cycle and in the later post-harvest season. We attribute the performance of the proposed model’s forecasts to its assignment of heterogeneous weights to both futures and cash prices depending on the underlying market conditions. Improved performance of the proposed model’s forecasts is especially noticeable when the market is more volatile

Crude oil price forecasting by CEEMDAN based hybrid model of ARIMA and Kalman filter

This paper used complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN) based hybrid model for the forecasting of world crude oil prices. For this purpose, the crude oil prices original time series are decomposed into sub small finite series called intrinsic mode functions (IMFs). Then ARIMA model was applied to each extracted IMF to estimate the parameters. Next, using these estimated parameters of each ARIMA model, the Kalman Filter was run for each IMF, so that these extracted IMFs can be predicted more accurately. Finally, all IMFs are combined to get the result. For testing and verification of the proposed method, two crude oil prices were used as a sample i.e. Brent and WTI (West Texas Intermediate) crude oil monthly prices series. The D-statistic values of the proposed model were 93.33% for Brent and 89.29% for WTI which reveals the importance of the CEEMDAN based hybrid model

Forecasting mid-price movement of Bitcoin futures using machine learning

In the aftermath of the global financial crisis and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, investors face challenges in understanding price dynamics across assets. This paper explores the performance of the various type of machine learning algorithms (MLAs) to predict mid-price movement for Bitcoin futures prices. We use high-frequency intraday data to evaluate the relative forecasting performances across various time frequencies, ranging between 5 and 60-min. Our findings show that the average classification accuracy for five out of the six MLAs is consistently above the 50% threshold, indicating that MLAs outperform benchmark models such as ARIMA and random walk in forecasting Bitcoin futures prices. This highlights the importance and relevance of MLAs to produce accurate forecasts for bitcoin futures prices during the COVID-19 turmoil

Empirical Analysis of Natural Gas Markets

Recent developments in the natural gas industry warrant new analysis of related issues. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investments have accelerated the shift away from coal as the dominant source of electricity. Its low environmental impact, reduced volume, and broad availability make liquefied natural gas (LNG) a popular alternative, during this time of transition between traditional fuels and newer options. In the United States, the shale gas revolution has made natural gas a game changer. In this book, we focus on empirical analyses of the natural gas market and its growing relevance worldwide

Forecasting: theory and practice

Forecasting has always been in the forefront of decision making and planning. The uncertainty that surrounds the future is both exciting and challenging, with individuals and organisations seeking to minimise risks and maximise utilities. The lack of a free-lunch theorem implies the need for a diverse set of forecasting methods to tackle an array of applications. This unique article provides a non-systematic review of the theory and the practice of forecasting. We offer a wide range of theoretical, state-of-the-art models, methods, principles, and approaches to prepare, produce, organise, and evaluate forecasts. We then demonstrate how such theoretical concepts are applied in a variety of real-life contexts, including operations, economics, finance, energy, environment, and social good. We do not claim that this review is an exhaustive list of methods and applications. The list was compiled based on the expertise and interests of the authors. However, we wish that our encyclopedic presentation will offer a point of reference for the rich work that has been undertaken over the last decades, with some key insights for the future of the forecasting theory and practice

An analysis of ensemble empirical mode decomposition applied to trend prediction on financial time series

Orientador : Luiz Eduardo S. OliveiraCoorientador : David MenottiDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Exatas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Informática. Defesa: Curitiba, 20/07/2017Inclui referências : f. 63-72Resumo: As séries temporais financeiras são notoriamente difíceis de analisar e prever dada sua natureza não estacionária e altamente oscilatória. Nesta tese, a eficácia da técnica de decomposição não-paramétrica Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) é avaliada como uma técnica de extração de característica de séries temporais provenientes de índices de mercado e taxas de câmbio, características estas usadas na classificação, juntamente com diferentes modelos de aprendizado de máquina, de tendências de curto prazo. Os resultados obtidos em dois datasets de dados financeiros distintos sugerem que os resultados promissores relatados na literatura foram obtidos com a adição, inadvertida, de lookahead bias (viés) proveniente da aplicação desta técnica como parte do pré-processamento das séries temporais. Em contraste com as conclusões encontradas na literatura, nossos resultados indicam que a aplicação do EEMD com o objetivo de gerar uma melhor representação dos dados financeiração, por si só, não é suficiente para melhorar substancialmente a precisão e retorno cumulativo obtidos por modelos preditivos em comparação aos resultados obtidos com a utilização de series temporais de mudanças percentuais. Palavras-chave: Predição de Tendencias, Aprendizado de Máquina, Séries Temporais Financeiras.Abstract: Financial time series are notoriously difficult to analyse and predict, given their nonstationary, highly oscillatory nature. In this thesis, the effectiveness of the Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) is evaluated at generating a representation for market indexes and exchange rates that improves short-term trend prediction for these financial instruments. The results obtained in two different financial datasets suggest that the promising results reported using EEMD on financial time series in other studies were obtained by inadvertently adding look-ahead bias to the testing protocol via pre-processing the entire series with EEMD, which do affect the predictive results. In contrast to conclusions found in the literature, our results indicate that the application of EEMD with the objective of generating a better representation for financial time series is not sufficient, by itself, to substantially improve the accuracy and cumulative return obtained by the same models using the raw data. Keywords: Trend Prediction, Machine Learning, Financial Time Series

Crude oil risk forecasting : new evidence from multiscale analysis approach

Fluctuations in the crude oil price allied to risk have increased significantly over the last decade frequently varying at different risk levels. Although existing models partially predict such variations, so far, they have been unable to predict oil prices accurately in this highly volatile market. The development of an effective, predictive model has therefore become a prime objective of research in this field. Our approach, albeit based in part on previous research, develops an original methodology, in that we have created a risk forecasting model with the ability to predict oil price fluctuations caused by changes in both fundamental and transient risk factors. We achieve this by disintegrating the multi-scale risk-structure of the crude oil market using Variational Mode Decomposition. Normal and transient risk factors are then extracted from the crude oil price using Variational Mode Decomposition and modelled separately using the Quantile Regression Neural Network (QRNN) model. Both risk factors are integrated and ensembled to produce the risk estimates. We then apply our proposed risk forecasting model to predicting future downside risk level in three major crude oil markets, namely the West Taxes Intermediate (WTI), the Brent Market, and the OPEC market. The results demonstrate that our model has the ability to capture downside risk estimates with significantly improved precision, thus reducing estimation errors and increasing forecasting reliability

Forecasting: theory and practice

Forecasting has always been at the forefront of decision making and planning. The uncertainty that surrounds the future is both exciting and challenging, with individuals and organisations seeking to minimise risks and maximise utilities. The large number of forecasting applications calls for a diverse set of forecasting methods to tackle real-life challenges. This article provides a non-systematic review of the theory and the practice of forecasting. We provide an overview of a wide range of theoretical, state-of-the-art models, methods, principles, and approaches to prepare, produce, organise, and evaluate forecasts. We then demonstrate how such theoretical concepts are applied in a variety of real-life contexts. We do not claim that this review is an exhaustive list of methods and applications. However, we wish that our encyclopedic presentation will offer a point of reference for the rich work that has been undertaken over the last decades, with some key insights for the future of forecasting theory and practice. Given its encyclopedic nature, the intended mode of reading is non-linear. We offer cross-references to allow the readers to navigate through the various topics. We complement the theoretical concepts and applications covered by large lists of free or open-source software implementations and publicly-available databases.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Forecasting: theory and practice

Forecasting has always been at the forefront of decision making and planning. The uncertainty that surrounds the future is both exciting and challenging, with individuals and organisations seeking to minimise risks and maximise utilities. The large number of forecasting applications calls for a diverse set of forecasting methods to tackle real-life challenges. This article provides a non-systematic review of the theory and the practice of forecasting. We provide an overview of a wide range of theoretical, state-of-the-art models, methods, principles, and approaches to prepare, produce, organise, and evaluate forecasts. We then demonstrate how such theoretical concepts are applied in a variety of real-life contexts. We do not claim that this review is an exhaustive list of methods and applications. However, we wish that our encyclopedic presentation will offer a point of reference for the rich work that has been undertaken over the last decades, with some key insights for the future of forecasting theory and practice. Given its encyclopedic nature, the intended mode of reading is non-linear. We offer cross-references to allow the readers to navigate through the various topics. We complement the theoretical concepts and applications covered by large lists of free or open-source software implementations and publicly-available databases

Some Essays on models in the Bond and Energy Markets

The term structure of interest rates plays a fundamental role as an indicator of economy and market trends, as well as a supporting tool for macroeconomic strategies, investment choices or hedging practices. Therefore, the availability of proper techniques to model and predict its dynamics is of crucial importance for players in the financial markets. Along this path, the dissertation initially examined the reliability of parametric and neural network models to fit and predict the term structure of interest rates in emerging markets, focusing on the Brazilian, Russian, Indian, Chines and South African (BRICS) bond markets. The focus on the BRICS is straightforward: the dynamics of their term structures make tricky the application of consolidated yield curve models. In this respect, BRICS yield curve act as stress testers. The study then examined how to apply the above cited models to energy derivatives, focusing the attention on the Natural Gas and Electricity futures, motivated by the existence of similarity. The research was carried out using ad hoc routines, such as the R package "DeRezende.Ferreira", developed by the candidate and now freely downloadable at the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN) repository*, as well as by means of code written in MatLab 2021a - 2022a and Python (3.10.10) using the open-source Keras (2.4.3) library with TensorFlow (2.4.0) as backend. The dissertation consists of four chapters based on published and/or under submission materials. Chapter 1 is an excerpt of the paper • Castello, O.; Resta, M. Modeling the Yield Curve of BRICS Countries: Parametric vs. Machine Learning Techniques. Risks 2022 The work firstly offers a comprehensive analysis of the BRICS bond market and then investigates and compares the abilities of the parametric Five–Factor De Rezende–Ferreira model and Feed–Forward Neural Networks to fit the yield curves. Chapter 2 is again focused on the BRICS market but investigates a methodology to identify optimal time–varying parameters for parametric yield curve models. The work then investigates the ability of this method both for in–sample fitting and out–of–sample prediction. Various forecasting methods are examined: the Univariate Autoregressive process AR(1), the TBATS and the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) combined to Nonlinear Autoregressive Neural Networks (NAR–NN). Chapter 3 studies the term structure dynamics in the Natural Gas futures market. This chapter represents an extension of the paper • Castello, O., Resta, M. (2022). Modeling and Forecasting Natural Gas Futures Prices Dynamics: An Integrated Approach. In: Corazza, M., Perna, C., Pizzi, C., Sibillo, M. (eds) Mathematical and Statistical Methods for Actuarial Sciences and Finance. MAF 2022. After showing that the natural gas and bond markets share similar stylized facts, we exploit these findings to examine whether techniques conventionally employed on the bonds market can be effectively used also for accurate in–sample fitting and out–of–sample forecast. We worked at first in–sample and we compared the performance of three models: the Four–Factor Dynamic Nelson–Siegel–Svensson (4F-DNSS), the Five–Factor Dynamic De Rezende–Ferreira (5F–DRF) and the B–Spline. Then, we turned the attention on forecasting, and explored the effectiveness of a hybrid methodology relying on the joint use of 4F–DNSS, 5F–DRF and B–Splines with Nonlinear Autoregressive Neural Networks (NAR–NNs). Empirical study was carried on using the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF) daily futures prices in the period from January 2011 to June 2022 which included also recent market turmoil to validate the overall effectiveness of the framework. Chapter 4 analyzes the predictability of the electricity futures prices term structure with Artificial Neural Networks. Prices time series and futures curves are characterized by high volatility which is a direct consequence of an inelastic demand and of the non–storable nature of the underlying commodity. We analyzed the forecasting power of several neural network models, including Nonlinear Autoregressive (NAR–NNs), NAR with Exogenous Inputs (NARX–NNs), Long Short–Term Memory (LSTM–NNs) and Encoder–Decoder Long Short–Term Memory Neural Networks (ED–LSTM–NNs). We carried out an extensive study of the models predictive capabilities using both the univariate and multivariate setting. Additionally, we explored whether incorporating various exogenous components such as Carbon Emission Certificates (CO2) spot prices, as well as Natural Gas and Coal futures prices can lead to improvements of the models performances. The data of the European Energy Exchange (EEX) power market were adopted to test the models. Chapter 4 concludes. ____________________________ * https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/DeRezende.Ferreira/index.htm