State-of-the-art in stock prediction techniques

ABSTRACT: Stock markets are affected by many uncertainties and interrelated economic and political factors at both local and global levels. The key to successful stock market forecasting is achieving best results with minimum required input data. To determine the set of relevant factors for making accurate predictions is a complicated task and so regular stock market analysis is very essential. More specifically, the stock market's movements are analyzed and predicted in order to retrieve knowledge that could guide investors on when to buy and sell. It will also help the investor to make money through his investment in the stock market. This paper surveys large number of resources from research papers, web-sources, company reports and other available sources

Market timing and portfolio returns: an empirical analysis of the potential profitability of buy-sell strategies, based on South African equities 2009-2018

South Africa’s financial markets have become larger and more complex over recent decades. The number of market participants who are using technical analysis techniques to predict the market’s movement has been growing rapidly. This research aims to investigate if historical share prices can be used when forecasting the market’s direction and to examine the profitability of the Japanese candlestick patterns. The study is based on ten companies selected from the JSE top 40 2019 composition. These are Aspen Pharmacy Holding, Capitec Bank Holding LTD, Discovery LTD, Kumba Iron Ore LTD, Mondi PLC, Mr. Price Group LTD, MTN Group LTD, Naspers LTD, SASOL LTD, and Shoprite Holdings LTD. These were selected from the JSE top 40 based on market capitalization and sector. This research analyzes eight candlestick reversal patterns; four are bullish patterns namely: doji star, hammer, bullish engulfing and the piercing lines and the other four are bearish patterns namely: shooting star, hanging man, bearish engulfing and the dark cloud cover. The ARCH and GARCH models are used to test for correlation between past share prices and future share prices and the binomial test and the mean return calculations were used to test the profitability of candlestick patterns. The sample is from Thomson DataStream 2019 and IRESS SA 2019 and covers ten years with 2496 observations starting from 02 January 2009 to 31 December 2018. The findings from the ARCH and GARCH tests revealed that there is a serial correlation between the returns from the previous day and the returns for the current day. The results from the mean returns and the binomial tests show strong evidence that the shooting star, hanging man, bearish engulfing and the bulling engulfing are statistically significant in predicting the share price movements. On the other hand, there was no evidence that the dark cloud cover, piercing lines, and the bullish doji can predict share price movements. Additionally, further studies on this topic could be improved by adding different candlestick patterns and the total number of companies analyzed. The results could also be improved by analyzing the candlestick reversal patterns when they are used with other trading rules such as support resistance levels and oscillators

Et studie om hvordan bedrifter kan prestere bedre ved å ha en proaktiv tilnærming til bærekraft

As the strain on planet Earth is increasing, there is a heightened need for organizations to address the natural environment and come as close to zero emission levels as possible. The purpose of this study is to clarify the link between sustainability, competitive advantage and performance. Proactive environmental strategy (PES), is a theoretical construct that is getting more and more attention because it highlights the company's actions which proactively prevents emissions and pollution levels. This study combines the internal and the external antecedents view of proactive environmental strategy (PES). The internal view is based upon the resource based view, and the external view is based upon corporate social responsibility. The widely applied typology of Miles and Snow is present to check whether there are differences between the firms. This study applies a quantitative research design conducted within the Norwegian wood and forestry industry

Circular Economy in the Water and Wastewater Sector: Possibilities for the local production and sale of biogas and biochar to finance municipal treatment plant's operation and maintenance costs and enhance sustainability

This thesis aims to investigate the possibility of optimizing the sludge treatment process in a municipal wastewater treatment plant to produce biogas and biochar from bioresidues. The objective is to maximize the sales of these products to finance the operating and maintenance costs of the treatment plant or reduce the energy bill. The study involves a detailed review of literature and interviews to identify the best practices in sludge treatment and the potential for biogas and biochar production. Furthermore, the thesis considers the economic and environmental benefits of producing biogas and biochar, including their potential as renewable energy sources and soil amendments. The study also evaluates the feasibility of locally using the produced biogas and biochar, including the availability of local markets and the infrastructure required for transportation and distribution. Ultimately, this document provides a comprehensive picture of sludge as an important resource from a municipal water and wastewater treatment plant in terms of sustainability and economic viabilityThis thesis aims to investigate the possibility of optimizing the sludge treatment process in a municipal wastewater treatment plant to produce biogas and biochar from bioresidues. The objective is to maximize the sales of these products to finance the operating and maintenance costs of the treatment plant or reduce the energy bill. The study involves a detailed review of literature and interviews to identify the best practices in sludge treatment and the potential for biogas and biochar production. Furthermore, the thesis considers the economic and environmental benefits of producing biogas and biochar, including their potential as renewable energy sources and soil amendments. The study also evaluates the feasibility of locally using the produced biogas and biochar, including the availability of local markets and the infrastructure required for transportation and distribution. Ultimately, this document provides a comprehensive picture of sludge as an important resource from a municipal water and wastewater treatment plant in terms of sustainability and economic viabilit

Ethics and taxation : a cross-national comparison of UK and Turkish firms

This paper investigates responses to tax related ethical issues facing busines

Crummer SunTrust Portfolio Recommendations: Crummer Investment Management [2014]

On balance, we believe the market will move modestly higher in the short-term. As we believe the economy is still recovering, we recommend over weighting the portfolio in cyclical sectors and underweighting countercyclical sectors. Like all soothsayers, we can only hope our glass is half‐full

Driving venture capital funding efficiencies through data driven models. Why is this important and what are its implications for the startup ecosystem?

This thesis aims to test whether data models can fit the venture capital funding process better, and if they do fit, can they help improve the venture capital funding efficiency? Based on the reported results, venture capitalists can only see returns in 20% of their investments. The thesis argues that it is essential to help venture capital investment as it can help drive economic growth through investments in innovation. The thesis considers four startup scenarios and the related investment factors. The scenarios are a funded artificial intelligence startup seeking follow-on funding, a new startup seeking first funding, the survivability of a sustainability-focused startup, and the importance of patents for exit. Patents are a proxy for innovation in this thesis. Through quantitative analysis using generalized linear models, logit regressions, and t-tests, the thesis can establish that data models can identify the relative significance of funding factors. Once the factor significance is established, it can be deployed in a model. Building the machine learning model has been considered outside the scope of this thesis. A mix of academic and real-world research has been used for the data analysis of this thesis. Accelerators and venture capitalists also used some of the results to improve their own processes. Many of the models have shifted from a prediction to factor significance. This thesis implies that it could help venture capitalists plan for a 10% efficiency improvement. From an academic perspective, this study focuses on the entire life of a startup, from the first funding stage to the exit. It also links the startup ecosystem with economic development. Two additional factors from the study are the regional perspective of funding differences between Asia, Europe, and the US and that this study would include the recent economic sentiment. The impact of the funding slowdown has been measured through a focus on first funding and longitudinal validations of the data decision before the slowdown. Based on the results of the thesis, data models are a credible alternative and show significant correlations between returns and factors. It is advisable for a venture capitalist to consider these

Avenues for corporate sustainability management: guiding SMEs in their strategic journey towards a sustainable long-term growth

L'impatto potenziale delle piccole e medie imprese (PMI) sullo sviluppo sostenibile globale è considerevole e deve derivare da un programma di responsabilità e sostenibilità d’impresa (RSI) strutturato internamente. Questo, tuttavia, non è un compito facile, data, da un lato, l'esistenza di barriere interne che caratterizzano le operazioni delle PMI e, dall'altro, le due nuove sfide mondiali emergenti dell'accelerazione digitale e della crisi derivante dall'emergenza pandemica da Covid-19. Inoltre, queste due questioni globali si rafforzano a vicenda e mettono le PMI in una situazione rischiosa in termini di continuità. Ma anche la sostenibilità d'impresa, che sta diventando sempre più una leva strategica di cui ci si aspetta che le aziende di tutte le dimensioni si avvalgano, presenta rischi simili. È in questo contesto che la tesi cerca di trovare delle soluzioni alle barriere interne e alle sfide esterne che impediscono alle PMI di diventare leader di successo del movimento per lo sviluppo sostenibile. Gli elementi di resilienza alla crisi, coordinamento delle attività di RSI e reporting, digitalizzazione e leadership sembrano avere la capacità intrinseca di guidare lo sviluppo sostenibile di un'azienda nel lungo termine. Tuttavia, per realizzare ciò, devono essere gestiti mediante procedure sistematiche e diventare parte del quadro strategico della sostenibilità all'interno delle aziende. Lo scopo di questa tesi è, dunque, quello di analizzare ciascuno di questi aspetti che sono strettamente legati al tema della sostenibilità aziendale (fornendo output che potrebbero supportare le aziende nel loro percorso di transizione verso la sostenibilità), e che le PMI oggi trovano difficili da affrontare perché il contesto in cui operano diventa sempre più complesso e iniziano a formarsi dei divari tra ciò che ci si aspetta dall’operatività delle PMI e la loro effettiva capacità. La struttura della tesi è composta da quattro capitoli che seguono una prospettiva macro-micro e ogni capitolo adotta una metodologia di ricerca diversa per esplorare gli elementi sopra menzionati. I risultati possono essere utilizzati principalmente dalle aziende che cercano di avviare o migliorare un programma esistente di gestione della sostenibilità. Nonostante il progetto di ricerca sia principalmente rivolto alle PMI, poiché le best practice analizzate sono state principalmente quelle delle grandi aziende, anche queste ultime potranno dunque trarre ispirazione per le loro operazioni di sostenibilità. Per quanto riguarda le PMI, il vantaggio principale sarebbe quello di trovare soluzioni per evitare che le loro barriere interne e le questioni mondiali ne compromettano la capacità di impegno verso un approccio di CSR correttamente strutturato.The potential impact of small-medium enterprises (SMEs) on the global sustainable development is considerable and must stem from an internally structured corporate sustainability and responsibility (CSR) program. This, however, is no easy task, given, on one hand, the existence of internal barriers that characterize SME operations, and on the other, the two newly emerging world-wide challenges of digital acceleration and the crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. Moreover, these two global matters are mutually reinforcing and put SMEs in a risky situation in terms of continuity. But so does corporate sustainability, which is increasingly becoming a strategic lever that companies of all sizes are expected to make use of. It is within this context that the thesis seeks to find solutions to the internal barriers and external challenges that prevent SMEs from successfully becoming the leaders of the sustainable development movement. The elements of resilience to crisis, coordination of CSR activities and reporting, digitalization, and leadership all seem to have the intrinsic ability to guide the sustainable development of a company in the long term. However, to do so, they must be managed through systematic procedures and become part of the sustainability strategic framework within companies. The aim of this thesis is, thus, to analyze each of these aspects that closely relate to the topic of corporate sustainability (providing outputs that could support companies in their sustainability transition journey), and which SMEs nowadays find difficult to deal with because the context in which they operate becomes increasingly complex and gaps begin to form between what is expected of them and their actual capacity. The structure of the thesis consists of four chapters that follow a macro-micro perspective, each chapter adopting a different research methodology to focus on the above-mentioned elements. The results can be of use mainly by the companies seeking to initiate or improve and existing sustainability management program. Despite the research project being primarily targeted at SMEs, since the best practices analyzed have been mainly those of larger corporations, the latter will also be able to receive some inspiration for their sustainability operations. As for SMEs, the main advantage would be to find solutions to prevent their internal barriers and worldwide issues tamper their ability to engage in a correctly structured CSR approach