We develop metrics based on Shapley values for interpreting time-series forecasting models, including "black-box" models from machine learning. Our metrics are model agnostic, so that they are applicable to any model (linear or nonlinear, parametric or nonparametric). Two of the metrics,...

We investigate the use of Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) for probabilistic forecasting of financial time series. To this end, we introduce a novel economics-driven loss function for the generator. This newly designed loss function renders GANs more suitable for a classification task, and...

The empirical literature of stock market predictability mainly suffers from model uncertainty and parameter instability. To meet this challenge, we propose a novel approach that combines the documented merits of diffusion indices, regime-switching models, and forecast combination to predict the...

This paper analyzes the predictability of emerging market currency crises by comparing the often used probit model to a new method, namely a multi-layer perceptron artificial neural network (ANN) model. According to the results, both models were able to signal currency crises reasonably well...

In the past decade, the popularity of realized measures and various linear models for volatility forecasting has attracted attention in the literature on the price variability of energy markets. However, results that would guide practitioners to a specific estimator and model when aiming for the...

In recent years, support vector regressions (SVRs), a novel artificial neural network (ANN) technique, has been successfully used as a nonparametric tool for regression estimation and forecasting time series data. In this thesis, we deal with the application of SVRs in financial markets...

I employ a variety of machine learning techniques to predict corporate bankruptcies. I compare machine learning techniques' predictions with the ones of reduced-form regressions and structural models. To assess the performances of different models, I compute a range of scores both in-sample and...

In the data mining and machine learning fields, forecasting the direction of price change can be generally formulated as a supervised classfii cation. This paper attempts to predict the direction of daily changes of the Nasdaq Composite Index (NCI) and of the Standard & Poor's 500 Composite...

Motivated by recurrent neural networks, this paper proposes a recurrent support vector regression (SVR) procedure to forecast nonlinear ARMA model based simulated data and real data of financial returns. The forecasting ability of the recurrent SVR based ARMA model is compared with five...

We provide a measure of sparsity for expected returns within the context of classical factor models. Our measure is inversely related to the percentage of active predictors. Empirically, sparsity varies over time and displays an apparent countercyclical behavior. Proxies for financial conditions...