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2orsitii26 44927 Moving average - Wikipedia
WIKIPEDIA
The Free Encyclopedia
Moving average
In statistics, a moving average (rolling average or | ,-——————_______
running average) is a calculation to analyze data points by
creating a series of averages of different selections of the full
data set. It is also called a moving mean (MM)") or rolling
mean and is a type of finite impulse response filter. Variations
include: simple, cumulative, or weighted forms (described
below).
ae
A moving average filter is sometimes called a boxcar filter, oe
especially when followed by decimation.
Smoothing of a noisy si
curve) with a moving average (red
Given a series of number ind a fixed subset size, the first
clement of the moving average is obtained by taking the
average of the initial fixed subset of the number series. ‘Then
the subset is modified by "shifting forward"; that is, excluding the first number of the series and
including the next value in the subset.
curve)
‘A moving average is commonly used with time series data to smooth out short-term fluctuations
and highlight longer-term trends or cycles. The threshold between short-term and long-term
depends on the application, and the parameters of the moving average will be set accordingly. It is
also used in economies to examine gross domestic product, employment or other macroeconomic
time series. Mathematically, a moving average is a type of convolution and so it can be viewed as
an example of a low-pass filter used in signal processing. When used with non-time series data, a
moving average filters higher frequency components without any specific connection to time,
although typically some kind of ordering is implied. Viewed simplistically it can be regarded as
smoothing the data
Simple moving average
In financial applications a simple moving average (SMA) is
the unweighted mean of the previous k data-points. However,
in science and engineering, the mean is normally taken from an
equal number of data on either side of a central value. This
ensures that variations in the mean are aligned with the
variations in the data rather than being shifted in time. An
example of a simple equally weighted running mean is the
mean over the last k entries of a data-set containing n entries.
Let those data-points be pi,p2,--.,Pn- This could be closing
prices of a stock. The mean over the last k data-points (days in
this example) is denoted as SMA, and calculated as:
Pn—k+1 + Pn-kt+2 + °° + Pn
SMA, = k
1g
=; 7
int
hitpsien wikipedia orgvikiMoving_average 16zonaisi96 E927 Moving average - Wikipedia
When calculating the next mean SMApnext with the same sampling width & the range from
n—k+2 to n-+1 is considered. A new value Pyi1 comes into the sum and the oldest value
Pn—b+1 drops out. This simplifies the calculations by reusing the previous mean SMAj,prev-
1 eH
SMAbzex = Pi
iene
1
= & \Packe2 + Pres F-** + Pn + Prt + P-bit = Pn-t11)
Ss
Tease =o
_l Pn-kt1 | Patt
= (Poss + Pn-ke2 + +P) Ty + k
=SMAsoeee
SMAk prev + £ (Past = Pott)
This means that the moving average filter can be computed quite cheaply on real time data with a
FIFO / circular buffer and only 3 arithmetic steps.
During the initial filling of the FIFO / circular buffer the sampling window is equal to the data-set
size thus k = n and the average calculation is performed as a cumulative moving average.
The period selected (k) depends on the type of movement of interest, such as short, intermediate,
or long-term.
If the data used are not centered around the mean, a simple moving average lags behind the latest
datum by half the sample width. An SMA can also be disproportionately influenced by old data
dropping out or new data coming in. One characteristic is that if the data has a periodic
fluctuation, then applying an SMA of that period will eliminate that variation (the average always
containing one complete cycle). But a perfectly regular cycle is rarely encountered.!2)
For a number of applications, it is advantageous to avoid the shifting induced by using only "past"
data. Hence a central moving average can be computed, using data equally spaced on either
side of the point in the series where the mean is calculated.) This requires using an odd number
of points in the sample window.
A major drawback of the SMA is that it lets through a significant amount of the signal shorter than
the window length. Worse, it actually inverts it. This can lead to unexpected artifacts, such as
peaks in the smoothed result appearing where there were troughs in the data. It also leads to the
result being less smooth than expected since some of the higher frequencies are not properly
removed.
Its frequency response is a type of low-pass filter called sine-in-frequency.
Cumulative average
In a cumulative average (CA), the data arrive in an ordered datum stream, and the user would
like to get the average of all of the data up until the current datum, For example, an investor may
want the average price of all of the stock transactions for a particular stock up until the current
time. As each new transaction occurs, the average price at the time of the transaction can be
calculated for all of the transactions up to that point using the cumulative average, typically an
equally weighted average of the sequence of n values 21...., 2m up to the current time:
hitpslen wikipedia orgikiMoving_ average: 216ponaiii26 £49.27 Moving average - Wikipedia
CA, = tee
n
The brute-force method to calculate this would be to store all of the data and calculate the sum and
divide by the number of points every time a new datum arrived. However, it is possible to simply
update cumulative average as a new value, =
the individual weights. hia
The denominator is a triangle number equal to
When calculating the WMA across successive values, the
difference between the numerators of WMAy441 and WMAy
is mpyai—pM —*+*—Pa-nsi- If we denote the sum
pM + +++ + PM-nii by Totaly, then
WMA weights n
Totalyy1 = Totaly + pai — PM—nt1
Numeratoryy,1 = Numeratory + npac1 — Totalay
WMA = Numeratorye41
nt(n-1)+---4+24+1
The graph at the right shows how the weights decrease, from highest weight for the most recent
data, down to zero. It can be compared to the weights in the exponential moving average which
follows.
Exponential moving average
An exponential moving average (EMA), also known as an exponentially weighted
moving average (EWMA),!5! js a first-order infinite impulse response filter that applies
weighting factors which decrease exponentially. The weighting for each older datum decreases
exponentially, never reaching zero. This formulation is according to Hunter (1986)./5!
Other weightings
Other weighting systems are used occasionally — for example, in share trading a volume
weighting will weight each time period in proportion to its trading volume.
A further weighting, used by actuaries, is Spencer's 15-Point Moving Average!7! (a central moving
average). Its symmetric weight coefficients are [-3, -6, —5, 3, 21, 46, 67, 74, 67, 46, 21, 3, -5, 6,
~3], which factors as Mbt Laibfit itt and leaves samples of any cubic
polynomial unchanged.!®)
Outside the world of finance, weighted running means have many forms and applications. Each
weighting function or "kernel" has its own characteristics. In engineering and science the
frequency and phase response of the filter is often of primary importance in understanding the
desired and undesired distortions that a particular filter will apply to the data.
hitpslen wikipedia orgikiMoving_ average: 46zonaisia6 E927 Moving veroge- Wikipedia
‘A mean does not just "smooth" the data. A mean is a form of low-pass filter. The effects of the
particular filter used should be understood in order to make an appropriate choice. On this point,
the French version of this article discusses the spectral effects of 3 kinds of means (cumulative,
exponential, Gaussian).
Moving median
From a statistical point of view, the moving average, when used to estimate the underlying trend in
a time series, is susceptible to rare events such as rapid shocks or other anomalies. A more robust
estimate of the trend is the simple moving median over n time points:
Bom = Median(par,P—a,---)Pa—n+1)
where the median is found by, for example, sorting the values inside the brackets and finding the
value in the middle. For larger values of n, the median can be efficiently computed by updating an
indexable skiplist.!9
Statistically, the moving average is optimal for recovering the underlying trend of the time series
when the fluctuations about the trend are normally distributed. However, the normal distribution
does not place high probability on very large deviations from the trend which explains why such
deviations will have a disproportionately large effect on the trend estimate. It can be shown that if
the fluctuations are instead assumed to be Laplace distributed, then the moving median is
statistically optimal.°! For a given variance, the Laplace distribution places higher probability on.
rare events than does the normal, which explains why the moving median tolerates shocks better
than the moving mean.
‘When the simple moving median above is central, the smoothing is identical to the median filter
which has applications in, for example, image signal processing. The Moving Median is a more
robust alternative to the Moving Average when it comes to estimating the underlying trend in a
time series. While the Moving Average is optimal for recovering the trend if the fluctuations
around the trend are normally distributed, it is susceptible to the impact of rare events such as
rapid shocks or anomalies. In contrast, the Moving Median, which is found by sorting the values
inside the time window and finding the value in the middle, is more resistant to the impact of such
rare events. This is because, for a given variance, the Laplace distribution, which the Moving
Median assumes, places higher probability on rare events than the normal distribution that the
Moving Average assumes. As a result, the Moving Median provides a more reliable and stable
estimate of the underlying trend even when the time series is affected by large deviations from the
trend. Additionally, the Moving Median smoothing is identical to the Median Filter, which has
various applications in image signal processing.
Moving average regression model
In a moving average regression model, a variable of interest is assumed to be a weighted moving
average of unobserved independent error terms; the weights in the moving average are parameters
to be esti
Those two concepts are often confused due to their name, but while they share many similarities,
they represent distinct methods and are used in very different contexts.
See also
= Exponential smoothing
hitpsien wikipedia orgvikiMoving_average 56zones 927 Moving average - Wikipedia
= Local regression (LOESS and LOWESS)
= Kernel smoothing
= Moving average convergence/divergence indicator
= Martingale (probability theory)
= Moving average crossover
= Moving least squares
= Rising moving average
= Rolling hash
= Running total
= Savitzky-Golay filter
= Window function
= Zero lag exponential moving average
References
1, Hydrologic Variability of the Cosumnes River Floodplain (http://www.waterboards.ca.goviwaterr
ights/water_issues/programs/bay_delta/docs/cmnt091412/sldmwa/booth_et_al_2006.pdf)
(Booth et al., San Francisco Estuary and Watershed Science, Volume 4, Issue 2, 2006)
2. Statistical Analysis, Ya-lun Chou, Holt International, 1975, ISBN 0-03-089422-0, section 17.9
The derivation and properties of the simple central moving average are given in full at
Savitzky-Golay filter.
4. "Weighted Moving Averages: The Basics" (http:/Avww.investopedia.com/articles/technical/0604
01.asp). Investopedia.
5, "DEALING WITH MEASUREMENT NOISE - Averaging Filter” (https://web.archive.orghweb/201
00329135531 /http://lorien.ncl.ac.uk/ming/filterifilewma. htm). Archived from the original (http://lo
rien.ncl.ac.uk/ming/filter/filewma.htm) on 2010-03-29. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
6, NIST/SEMATECH e-Handbook of Statistical Methods: Single Exponential Smoothing (http://ww
witl nist. gov/div898/handbook/pme/section4/pmc431.htm) at the National Institute of Standards
and Technology
7. Spencer's 15-Point Moving Average — from Wolfram MathWorld (http://mathworld.wolfram.co
m/Spencers15-PointMovingAverage. html)
8, Rob J Hyndman. "Moving averages (https:/robjhyndman.com/papers/movingaverage. pdf)".
2009-11-08. Accessed 2020-08-20.
9, “Efficient Running Median using an indexable Skiplist « Python recipes « ActiveState Code" (ht
tpilicode.activestate.com/recipes/576930/).
10. G.R. Arce, "Nonlinear Signal Processing: A Statistical Approach", Wiley:New Jersey, US, 2005
External links
= Tuned, Using Moving Average Crossovers Programmatically (https:/Avww.tuned.com/blog/learn
ing/strategy-creation/what-is-and-how-to-use-moving-averages-in-tuned-script/)
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