Skip to contents

Define and validate model specifications

Source: R/fHMM_controls.R
set_controls.Rd

This function defines and validates specifications for model estimation.

Usage

set_controls(
  controls = list(),
  hierarchy = FALSE,
  states = if (!hierarchy) 2 else c(2, 2),
  sdds = if (!hierarchy) "normal" else c("normal", "normal"),
  horizon = if (!hierarchy) 100 else c(100, 30),
  period = if (hierarchy && is.na(horizon[2])) "m" else NA,
  data = NA,
  file = NA,
  date_column = if (!hierarchy) "Date" else c("Date", "Date"),
  data_column = if (!hierarchy) "Close" else c("Close", "Close"),
  from = NA,
  to = NA,
  logreturns = if (!hierarchy) FALSE else c(FALSE, FALSE),
  merge = function(x) mean(x),
  fit = list(),
  runs = 10,
  origin = FALSE,
  accept = 1:3,
  gradtol = 0.01,
  iterlim = 100,
  print.level = 0,
  steptol = 0.01
)

validate_controls(controls)

# S3 method for fHMM_controls
print(x, ...)

# S3 method for fHMM_controls
summary(object, ...)

Arguments

controls

Either a list or an object of class fHMM_controls.

The list can contain the following elements, which are described in more detail below:

  • hierarchy, defines an hierarchical HMM,

  • states, defines the number of states,

  • sdds, defines the state-dependent distributions,

  • horizon, defines the time horizon,

  • period, defines a flexible, periodic fine-scale time horizon,

  • data, a list of controls that define the data,

  • fit, a list of controls that define the model fitting

Either none, all, or selected elements can be specified.

Unspecified parameters are set to their default values.

Important: Specifications in controls always override individual specifications.

hierarchy

A logical, set to TRUE for an hierarchical HMM.

If hierarchy = TRUE, some of the other controls must be specified for the coarse-scale and the fine-scale layer.

By default, hierarchy = FALSE.

states

An integer, the number of states of the underlying Markov chain.

If hierarchy = TRUE, states must be a vector of length 2. The first entry corresponds to the coarse-scale layer, while the second entry corresponds to the fine-scale layer.

By default, states = 2 if hierarchy = FALSE and states = c(2, 2) if hierarchy = TRUE.

sdds

A character, specifying the state-dependent distribution. One of

  • "normal" (the normal distribution),

  • "lognormal" (the log-normal distribution),

  • "t" (the t-distribution),

  • "gamma" (the gamma distribution),

  • "poisson" (the Poisson distribution).

The distribution parameters, i.e. the

  • mean mu,

  • standard deviation sigma (not for the Poisson distribution),

  • degrees of freedom df (only for the t-distribution),

can be fixed via, e.g., "t(df = 1)" or "gamma(mu = 0, sigma = 1)". To fix different values of a parameter for different states, separate by "|", e.g. "poisson(mu = 1|2|3)".

If hierarchy = TRUE, sdds must be a vector of length 2. The first entry corresponds to the coarse-scale layer, while the second entry corresponds to the fine-scale layer.

By default, sdds = "normal" if hierarchy = FALSE and sdds = c("normal", "normal") if hierarchy = TRUE.

horizon

A numeric, specifying the length of the time horizon.

If hierarchy = TRUE, horizon must be a vector of length 2. The first entry corresponds to the coarse-scale layer, while the second entry corresponds to the fine-scale layer.

By default, horizon = 100 if hierarchy = FALSE and horizon = c(100, 30) if hierarchy = TRUE.

If data is specified (i.e., not NA), the first entry of horizon is ignored and the (coarse-scale) time horizon is defined by available data.

period

Only relevant if hierarchy = TRUE and horizon[2] = NA.

In this case, a character which specifies a flexible, periodic fine-scale time horizon and can be one of

  • "w" for a week,

  • "m" for a month,

  • "q" for a quarter,

  • "y" for a year.

By default, period = "m" if hierarchy = TRUE and horizon[2] = NA, and NA else.

data

Either NA, in which case data is simulated (the default), or a list of controls specifying the empirical data set.

The list can contain the following elements, which are described in more detail below:

  • file, defines the data set,

  • date_column, defines the date column,

  • data_column, defines the data column,

  • from, defines a lower date limit,

  • to, defines an upper date limit,

  • logreturns, defines a data transformation to log-returns,

  • merge, defines the merging for coarse-scale observations.

Either none, all, or selected elements can be specified.

Unspecified parameters are set to their default values, see below.

Specifications in data override individual specifications.

file

A data.frame with data and dates for modeling.

If hierarchy = TRUE, file can be a list of length 2. The first entry is a data.frame and provides the data for the coarse-scale layer, while the second entry corresponds to the fine-scale layer. If file is a single data.frame, then the same data.frame is used for both layers.

Alternatively, it can be a character (of length two), the path to a .csv-file with financial data.

date_column

A character, the name of the column in file with dates.

If hierarchy = TRUE and file is a list of two data.frames, data_column must be a vector of length 2. The first entry corresponds to the coarse-scale layer, while the second entry corresponds to the fine-scale layer.

By default, date_column = "Date".

data_column

A character, the name of the column in file with observations.

If hierarchy = TRUE, data_column must be a vector of length 2. The first entry corresponds to the coarse-scale layer, while the second entry corresponds to the fine-scale layer.

By default, data_column = "Close" if hierarchy = FALSE and data_column = c("Close", "Close") if hierarchy = TRUE.

from

A character of the format "YYYY-MM-DD", setting a lower date limit. No lower limit if from = NA (default).

to

A character of the format "YYYY-MM-DD", setting an upper date limit. No lower limit if to = NA (default).

logreturns

A logical, if TRUE the data is transformed to log-returns.

If hierarchy = TRUE, logreturns must be a vector of length 2. The first entry corresponds to the coarse-scale layer, while the second entry corresponds to the fine-scale layer.

By default, logreturns = FALSE if hierarchy = FALSE and logreturns = c(FALSE, FALSE) if hierarchy = TRUE.

merge

Only relevant if hierarchy = TRUE.

In this case, a function which merges an input numeric vector of fine-scale data x into one coarse-scale observation. For example,

  • merge = function(x) mean(x) (default) defines the mean of the fine-scale data as the coarse-scale observation,

  • merge = function(x) mean(abs(x)) for the mean of the absolute values,

  • merge = function(x) sum(abs(x)) for the sum of the absolute values,

  • merge = function(x) (tail(x, 1) - head(x, 1)) / head(x, 1) for the relative change of the first to the last fine-scale observation.

fit

A list of controls specifying the model fitting.

The list can contain the following elements, which are described in more detail below:

  • runs, defines the number of numerical optimization runs,

  • origin, defines initialization at the true parameters,

  • accept, defines the set of accepted optimization runs,

  • gradtol, defines the gradient tolerance,

  • iterlim, defines the iteration limit,

  • print.level, defines the level of printing,

  • steptol, defines the minimum allowable relative step length.

Either none, all, or selected elements can be specified.

Unspecified parameters are set to their default values, see below.

Specifications in fit override individual specifications.

runs

An integer, setting the number of randomly initialized optimization runs of the model likelihood from which the best one is selected as the final model.

By default, runs = 10.

origin

Only relevant for simulated data, i.e., if the data control is NA.

In this case, a logical. If origin = TRUE the optimization is initialized at the true parameter values. This sets run = 1 and accept = 1:5.

By default, origin = FALSE.

accept

An integer (vector), specifying which optimization runs are accepted based on the output code of nlm.

By default, accept = 1:3.

gradtol

A positive numeric value, specifying the gradient tolerance, passed on to nlm.

By default, gradtol = 0.01.

iterlim

A positive integer value, specifying the iteration limit, passed on to nlm.

By default, iterlim = 100.

print.level

One of 0, 1, and 2 to control the verbosity of the numerical likelihood optimization, passed on to nlm.

By default, print.level = 0.

steptol

A positive numeric value, specifying the step tolerance, passed on to nlm.

By default, gradtol = 0.01.

x, object

An object of class fHMM_controls.

...

Currently not used.

Value

An object of class fHMM_controls, which is a list that contains model and estimation specifications.

Details

See the vignette on controls for more details.

Examples

# 2-state HMM with t-distributions for simulated data
set_controls(
  states = 2,   # the number of states
  sdds   = "t", # the state-dependent distribution
  runs   = 50   # the number of optimization runs
)
#> fHMM controls:
#> * hierarchy: FALSE 
#> * data type: simulated 
#> * number of states: 2 
#> * sdds: t() 
#> * number of runs: 50  

# 3-state HMM with normal distributions for the DAX closing prices
set_controls(
  states      = 3,
  sdds        = "normal",
  file        = download_data("^GDAXI"), # the data set
  date_column = "Date",                   # the column with the dates
  data_column = "Close"                   # the column with the data
)
#> fHMM controls:
#> * hierarchy: FALSE 
#> * data type: empirical 
#> * number of states: 3 
#> * sdds: normal() 
#> * number of runs: 10  

# hierarchical HMM with Gamma and Poisson state distributions
set_controls(
  hierarchy = TRUE,                  # defines a hierarchy
  states    = c(3, 2),               # coarse scale and fine scale states
  sdds      = c("gamma", "poisson"), # distributions for both layers
  horizon   = c(100, NA),            # 100 simulated coarse-scale data points 
  period    = "m"                    # monthly simulated fine-scale data
)
#> fHMM controls:
#> * hierarchy: TRUE 
#> * data type: simulated 
#> * number of states: 3 2 
#> * sdds: gamma() poisson() 
#> * number of runs: 10  

# hierarchical HMM with data from .csv-file
set_controls(
  hierarchy = TRUE,
  states    = c(3, 2),
  sdds      = c("t", "t"),
  file      = c(               
    system.file("extdata", "dax.csv", package = "fHMM"),
    system.file("extdata", "vw.csv", package = "fHMM")
  ),
  date_column = c("Date", "Date"), 
  data_column = c("Close", "Close"),
  logreturns  = c(TRUE, TRUE)
)
#> fHMM controls:
#> * hierarchy: TRUE 
#> * data type: empirical 
#> * number of states: 3 2 
#> * sdds: t() t() 
#> * number of runs: 10