IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finana/v74y2021ics105752192100020x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Direction-of-change forecasting in commodity futures markets

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Jiadong
  • Papailias, Fotis
  • Quinn, Barry

Abstract

This paper examines direction-of-change predictability in commodity futures markets using a variety of binary probabilistic techniques. As well as traditional techniques, we apply Variable Length Markov Chain (VLMC) analysis, an innovative technique popularised in computational biology when predicting DNA sequences (Bühlmann & Wyner, 1999). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first application of VLMC in finance. Our results show that both VLMC and technical analysis methods provide strong predictability of the direction-of-change of commodity returns, with annualised mean returns of approximately 8%, substantially higher than the passive long strategy. Our results suggest that a short-term learning effect is present in commodities market which can be exploited using innovative direction-of-change forecasting techniques.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Jiadong & Papailias, Fotis & Quinn, Barry, 2021. "Direction-of-change forecasting in commodity futures markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:74:y:2021:i:c:s105752192100020x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irfa.2021.101677
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S105752192100020X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.irfa.2021.101677?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ing-Haw Cheng & Wei Xiong, 2014. "Financialization of Commodity Markets," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 419-441, December.
    2. Liu, Jingzhen & Kemp, Alexander, 2019. "Forecasting the sign of U.S. oil and gas industry stock index excess returns employing macroeconomic variables," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 672-686.
    3. West, Kenneth D, 1996. "Asymptotic Inference about Predictive Ability," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(5), pages 1067-1084, September.
    4. Gencay, Ramazan, 1998. "The predictability of security returns with simple technical trading rules," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 347-359, October.
    5. Peter R. Hansen & Asger Lunde & James M. Nason, 2011. "The Model Confidence Set," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 79(2), pages 453-497, March.
    6. Ferreira, Miguel A. & Santa-Clara, Pedro, 2011. "Forecasting stock market returns: The sum of the parts is more than the whole," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(3), pages 514-537, June.
    7. Tina Hviid Rydberg & Neil Shephard, 2003. "Dynamics of Trade-by-Trade Price Movements: Decomposition and Models," Journal of Financial Econometrics, Oxford University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 2-25.
    8. Michael J. Roberts & Wolfram Schlenker, 2013. "Identifying Supply and Demand Elasticities of Agricultural Commodities: Implications for the US Ethanol Mandate," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(6), pages 2265-2295, October.
    9. Heikki Kauppi & Pentti Saikkonen, 2008. "Predicting U.S. Recessions with Dynamic Binary Response Models," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(4), pages 777-791, November.
    10. Christiane Baumeister & Gert Peersman, 2013. "Time-Varying Effects of Oil Supply Shocks on the US Economy," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(4), pages 1-28, October.
    11. Pettenuzzo, Davide & Timmermann, Allan & Valkanov, Rossen, 2014. "Forecasting stock returns under economic constraints," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(3), pages 517-553.
    12. Harri Pönkä, 2017. "Predicting the direction of US stock markets using industry returns," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 1451-1480, June.
    13. Shihao Gu & Bryan Kelly & Dacheng Xiu, 2020. "Empirical Asset Pricing via Machine Learning," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(5), pages 2223-2273.
    14. Peter F. Christoffersen & Francis X. Diebold, 2006. "Financial Asset Returns, Direction-of-Change Forecasting, and Volatility Dynamics," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(8), pages 1273-1287, August.
    15. Newey, Whitney & West, Kenneth, 2014. "A simple, positive semi-definite, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation consistent covariance matrix," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 33(1), pages 125-132.
    16. Moskowitz, Tobias J. & Ooi, Yao Hua & Pedersen, Lasse Heje, 2012. "Time series momentum," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(2), pages 228-250.
    17. Joseph, Kissan & Babajide Wintoki, M. & Zhang, Zelin, 2011. "Forecasting abnormal stock returns and trading volume using investor sentiment: Evidence from online search," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 1116-1127, October.
    18. Estrella, Arturo, 1998. "A New Measure of Fit for Equations with Dichotomous Dependent Variables," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 16(2), pages 198-205, April.
    19. Bianchi, Robert J. & Drew, Michael E. & Fan, John Hua, 2015. "Combining momentum with reversal in commodity futures," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 423-444.
    20. Shihao Gu & Bryan Kelly & Dacheng Xiu, 2020. "Empirical Asset Pricing via Machine Learning," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 33(5), pages 2223-2273.
    21. Diebold, Francis X & Mariano, Roberto S, 2002. "Comparing Predictive Accuracy," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 20(1), pages 134-144, January.
    22. Neumann, Michael & Skiadopoulos, George, 2013. "Predictable Dynamics in Higher-Order Risk-Neutral Moments: Evidence from the S&P 500 Options," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(3), pages 947-977, June.
    23. Papailias, Fotis & Liu, Jiadong & Thomakos, Dimitrios D., 2021. "Return signal momentum," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    24. Meese, Richard A. & Rogoff, Kenneth, 1983. "Empirical exchange rate models of the seventies : Do they fit out of sample?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1-2), pages 3-24, February.
    25. Leung, Mark T. & Daouk, Hazem & Chen, An-Sing, 2000. "Forecasting stock indices: a comparison of classification and level estimation models," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 173-190.
    26. Nyberg, Henri, 2011. "Forecasting the direction of the US stock market with dynamic binary probit models," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 561-578.
    27. Nyberg, Henri, 2011. "Forecasting the direction of the US stock market with dynamic binary probit models," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 561-578, April.
    28. Mauro Bernardi & Leopoldo Catania, 2018. "The model confidence set package for R," International Journal of Computational Economics and Econometrics, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 8(2), pages 144-158.
    29. Chris Brooks & Marcel Prokopczuk & Yingying Wu, 2015. "Booms and Busts in Commodity Markets: Bubbles or Fundamentals?," Journal of Futures Markets, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(10), pages 916-938, October.
    30. Pesaran, M Hashem & Timmermann, Allan, 1995. "Predictability of Stock Returns: Robustness and Economic Significance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(4), pages 1201-1228, September.
    31. Anatolyev, Stanislav & Gospodinov, Nikolay, 2010. "Modeling Financial Return Dynamics via Decomposition," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 28(2), pages 232-245.
    32. Yudong Wang & Chongfeng Wu & Li Yang, 2015. "Hedging with Futures: Does Anything Beat the Naïve Hedging Strategy?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(12), pages 2870-2889, December.
    33. Leitch, Gordon & Tanner, J Ernest, 1991. "Economic Forecast Evaluation: Profits versus the Conventional Error Measures," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(3), pages 580-590, June.
    34. Shafiee, Shahriar & Topal, Erkan, 2010. "An overview of global gold market and gold price forecasting," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 178-189, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nyberg, Henri & Pönkä, Harri, 2016. "International sign predictability of stock returns: The role of the United States," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 323-338.
    2. Nyberg, Henri, 2011. "Forecasting the direction of the US stock market with dynamic binary probit models," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 561-578, April.
    3. Nyberg, Henri, 2011. "Forecasting the direction of the US stock market with dynamic binary probit models," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 561-578.
    4. Harri Pönkä, 2017. "Predicting the direction of US stock markets using industry returns," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 52(4), pages 1451-1480, June.
    5. Straetmans, S.T.M. & Candelon, B. & Ahmed, J., 2012. "Predicting and capitalizing on stock market bears in the U.S," Research Memorandum 019, Maastricht University, Maastricht Research School of Economics of Technology and Organization (METEOR).
    6. Gu, Wentao & Peng, Yiqing, 2019. "Forecasting the market return direction based on a time-varying probability density model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    7. Dichtl, Hubert, 2020. "Forecasting excess returns of the gold market: Can we learn from stock market predictions?," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    8. Nyberg, Henri, 2013. "Predicting bear and bull stock markets with dynamic binary time series models," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3351-3363.
    9. , & Stein, Tobias, 2021. "Equity premium predictability over the business cycle," CEPR Discussion Papers 16357, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Chen, Nan-Kuang & Chen, Shiu-Sheng & Chou, Yu-Hsi, 2017. "Further evidence on bear market predictability: The role of the external finance premium," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 106-121.
    11. Ginker, Tim & Lieberman, Offer, 2017. "Robustness of binary choice models to conditional heteroscedasticity," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 130-134.
    12. Nyberg, Henri, 2010. "QR-GARCH-M Model for Risk-Return Tradeoff in U.S. Stock Returns and Business Cycles," MPRA Paper 23724, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Harri Pönkä, 2018. "Sentiment and sign predictability of stock returns," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 38(3), pages 1676-1684.
    14. Liu, Jingzhen & Kemp, Alexander, 2019. "Forecasting the sign of U.S. oil and gas industry stock index excess returns employing macroeconomic variables," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 672-686.
    15. Chronopoulos, Dimitris K. & Papadimitriou, Fotios I. & Vlastakis, Nikolaos, 2018. "Information demand and stock return predictability," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 59-74.
    16. Pönkä, Harri, 2016. "Real oil prices and the international sign predictability of stock returns," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 79-87.
    17. Dichtl, Hubert & Drobetz, Wolfgang & Neuhierl, Andreas & Wendt, Viktoria-Sophie, 2021. "Data snooping in equity premium prediction," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 72-94.
    18. Daniel Borup & Jonas N. Eriksen & Mads M. Kjær & Martin Thyrsgaard, 2020. "Predicting bond return predictability," CREATES Research Papers 2020-09, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    19. Chaohua Dong & Jiti Gao & Bin Peng & Yayi Yan, 2023. "Estimation and Inference for a Class of Generalized Hierarchical Models," Papers 2311.02789, arXiv.org, revised Apr 2024.
    20. James W. Taylor & Keming Yu, 2016. "Using auto-regressive logit models to forecast the exceedance probability for financial risk management," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 179(4), pages 1069-1092, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:74:y:2021:i:c:s105752192100020x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620166 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.