Forecasting Models: Methods and Applications

Forecasting is the process of making statements about events whose actual outcomes have not yet been observed. A more general term of forecasting is prediction. Prediction plays a very important role in our daily life. Its scope is extremely wide: weather forecasting, stock market prediction, supply-demand prediction, population forecasting, traffic prediction, protein-protein interaction prediction, etc. In order to facilitate our discussion, we can only include some topics that are widely being discussed and can reflect the interest of most people. Specifically, this book presents how forecasting models are being used and why they are important in the following areas: supply-demand analysis (Chapter 1), systems performance (Chapter 2 - 3), bioinformatics (Chapter 4 - 5), financial markets (Chapter 6 - 10), electrical load analysis (Chapter 11 - 13) and some other emerging/interesting areas (Chapter 14 - 16). Inside, you will find the latest techniques used in academic and industry today, discover the importance of forecasting and prediction and learn how it's accomplished. And you'll develop the necessary skills to meet the increased demand for thoughtful and realistic forecasts. We especially put an emphasis on the practical uses of forecasting & prediction in this book. All chapters in this book have gone through a peer review, a selection and an editing process so as to guarantee their quality. This book can be served as a reference book for undergraduate or postgraduate courses.