Combining different computational techniques in the development of financial prediction models

The prediction of financial time series to enable improved portfolio management is a complex topic that has been widely researched. Modelling challenges include the high level of noise present in the signals, the need to accurately model extreme rather than average behaviour, the inherent non-linearity of relationships between explanatory and predicted variables and the need to predict the future behaviour of a large number of independent investment instruments that must be considered for inclusion into a well-diversified portfolio. This paper demonstrates that linear time series prediction does not offer the ability to develop reliable prediction models, due to the inherently non-linear nature of the relationship between explanatory and predicted variables. It is shown that the results of histogram based sorting techniques can be used to guide the selection of suitable variables to be included in the development of a neural network mode