Forecasting Realized Volatility with Linear and Nonlinear Univariate Models

Abstract

In this paper we consider a nonlinear model based on neural networks as well as linear models to forecast the daily volatility of the S&P 500 and FTSE 100 futures. As a proxy for daily volatility, we consider a consistent and unbiased estimator of the integrated volatility that is computed from high frequency intra-day returns. We also consider a simple algorithm based on bagging (bootstrap aggregation) in order to specify the models analyzed.Financial econometrics; volatility forecasting; neural networks; nonlinear models; realized volatility; bagging