Non-parametric regression methods

The nature of the financial time series is complex, continuous interchange of stochastic and deterministic regimes. Therefore, it is difficult to forecast with parametric techniques. Instead of parametric models, we propose three techniques and compare them with each other. Neural networks and support vector regression (SVR) are two universally used approximators. They are data-driven non-parametric models. ARCH/GARCH models are also investigated. Our assumption is that the future value of Istanbul Stock Exchange 100 index daily return depends on the financial indicators although there is no known parametric model to explain this relationship. This relationship comes from the technical analysis. Comparison shows that the multi layer perceptron networks overperform the SVR and time series model (GARCH).