We report results on the ex ante predictability of monthly excess stock returns in Germany using real-time and revised macroeconomic data. Our real-time macroeconomic data cover the period 1994-2005. We report three results. 1) Real-time macroeconomic data did not contribute much to ex ante...

We compared forecasts of stock market volatility based on real-time and revised macroeconomic data. To this end, we used a new dataset on monthly real-time macroeconomic variables for Germany. The dataset covers the period 1994-2005. We used a statistical, a utility-based, and an options-based...

Konjunkturprognosen sind besser als ihr Ruf. Die Prognosen des Instituts für Weltwirtschaft wie auch die des Sachverständigenrats zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung und die der Gemeinschaftsdiagnose der sechs führenden Wirtschaftsforschungsinstitute weisen — entgegen...

The paper investigates a set of possible leading indicators for Euroland's business cycle using aggregated quarterly data. The theoretical plausibility, the behavior at business cycle turning points and the mean leads are analyzed. Furthermore, evidence from cross-correlations and...

Probit models are employed to evaluate leading indicators for Germany's recessions. The predictive power of leading indicators is found to be lower than assumed in previous studies. Although, monetary variables provide the best predictive power for recessions, survey data and order inflows show...

The paper presents some stylized facts of Euroland's business cycle using aggregated data. The main results are: The determination of turning points in Euroland's business cycle is not very sensitive to the detrending method used, although the level of the recent output gap depends on it....

Konjunkturprognostiker und deren prognostische Fähigkeiten standen schon oft im Kreuzfeuer der öffentlichen Kritik. Seit einiger Zeit mehren sich die Fragen über die Tauglichkeit von Konjunkturprognosen. Da war vom "Blindflug der Forscher" zu lesen (vgl. Der Spiegel 2005), Feuilletonisten...