Neural Networks in Finance: Gaining Predictive Edge in the Market

Neutral Networks in Finance  explores the intuitive appeal of neural networks and the genetic algorithm in finance. It demonstrates how neural networks used in combination with evolutionary computation outperform classical econometric methods for accuracy in forecasting, classification and dimensionality reduction. The text shows that these networks are easy to implement and interpret once the time-honored quest for closed form solutions is reconsidered.

McNelis utilizes a variety of examples, from forecasting automobile production and corporate bond spread, to inflation and deflation processes in Hong Kong and Japan, to credit card default in Germany, to bank failures in Texas, to cap-floor volatilities in New York and Hong Kong. Numerical illustrations use MATLAB code and the book is accompanied by a website.

Paul McNelis is Professor of Economics, Georgetown University, Washington, DC.