Forecasting in R: Probability Bins for Time-Series Data

This time-series.R script, below, takes a set of historical time series data and does a walk using the forecast period to generate probabilistic outcomes from the data set.

Input file is a csv file with two columns (Date, Value) with dates in reverse chronological order and in ISO-8601 format. Like so:

2019-08-06,1.73                                                                
2019-08-05,1.75                                                                
2019-08-02,1.86

Output is as follows:

0.466: Bin 1 - <1.7
0.328: Bin 2 - 1.7 to <=1.9
0.144: Bin 3 - 1.9+ to <2.1
0.045: Bin 4 - 2.1 to <=2.3
0.017: Bin 5 - 2.3+

Note: Patterns in data sets will skew results. A 20-year upward trend will make higher probabilities more likely. A volatile 5-year period will produce more conservative predictions and may not capture recent trends or a recent change in direction of movement.

R Script

# time-series.R 
# Original: December 4, 2018
# Last revised: December 4, 2018

#################################################
# Description: This script is for running any 
# sequence of historical time-series data to make 
# a forecast for five values by a particular date.
# Assumes a cvs file with two columns (Date, Value) 
# with dates in reverse chronological order and in
# ISO-8601 format. Like so:
#
# 2019-08-06,1.73                                                                
# 2019-08-05,1.75                                                                
# 2019-08-02,1.86

#Clear memory and set string option for reading in data:
rm(list=ls())
gc()

  #################################################
  # Function
  time-series <- function(time_path="./path/file.csv", 
                        closing_date="2020-01-01", trading_days=5, 
                         bin1=1.7, bin2=1.9, 
                         bin3=2.1, bin4=2.3) {

  #################################################
  # Libraries
  #
  # Load libraries. If library X is not installed
  # you can install it with this command at the R prompt:
  # install.packages('X') 

  # Determine how many days until end of question
  todays_date <- Sys.Date()
  closing_date <- as.Date(closing_date)
  remaining_weeks <- as.numeric(difftime(closing_date, todays_date, units = "weeks"))
  remaining_weeks <- round(remaining_weeks, digits=0)
  non_trading_days <- (7 - trading_days) * remaining_weeks
  day_difference <- as.numeric(difftime(closing_date, todays_date))
  remaining_days <- day_difference - non_trading_days 

  #################################################
  # Import & Parse
  # Point to time series data file and import it.
  time_import <- read.csv(time_path, header=FALSE) 
  colnames(time_import) <- c("date", "value")

  # Setting data types
  time_import$date <- as.Date(time_import$date)
  time_import$value <- as.vector(time_import$value)

  # Setting most recent value, assuming descending data
  current_value <- time_import[1,2]

  # Get the length of time_import$value and shorten it by remaining_days
  time_rows = length(time_import$value) - remaining_days

  # Create a dataframe
  time_calc <- NULL

  # Iterate through value and subtract the difference 
  # from the row remaining days away.
  for (i in 1:time_rows) {
    time_calc[i] <- time_import$value[i] - time_import$value[i+remaining_days]
  }

  # Adjusted against current values to match time_calc
  adj_bin1 <- bin1 - current_value
  adj_bin2 <- bin2 - current_value
  adj_bin3 <- bin3 - current_value 
  adj_bin4 <- bin4 - current_value 

  # Determine how many trading days fall in each question bin
  prob1 <- round(sum(time_calc<adj_bin1)/length(time_calc), digits = 3)
  prob2 <- round(sum(time_calc>=adj_bin1 & time_calc<=adj_bin2)/length(time_calc), digits = 3)
  prob3 <- round(sum(time_calc>adj_bin2 & time_calc<adj_bin3)/length(time_calc), digits = 3)
  prob4 <- round(sum(time_calc>=adj_bin3 & time_calc<=adj_bin4)/length(time_calc), digits = 3)
  prob5 <- round(sum(time_calc>adj_bin4)/length(time_calc), digits = 3)
  
  ###############################################
  # Print results
  return(cat(paste0(prob1, ": Bin 1 - ", "<", bin1, "\n",
                  prob2, ": Bin 2 - ", bin1, " to <=", bin2, "\n", 
                  prob3, ": Bin 3 - ", bin2, "+ to <", bin3, "\n", 
                  prob4, ": Bin 4 - ", bin3, " to <=", bin4, "\n", 
                  prob5, ": Bin 5 - ", bin4, "+", "\n")))
}