Can the increased influence of stockmarkets on currency movements be incorporated into a forecasting model?
Once in the pipeline, a prospect is either on track to become a sale or a forecasting mistake to be removed.
Wesbury has used this as a forecasting tool to arguably inadequate effect.
It's quite a reach, says Rebecca Lindland, an analyst with Global Insight, a forecasting firm: The 1-million-unit goal would mean increasing sales 13% a year, (see chart).
The Scottish government-owned company will use a forecasting tool provided by the Met Office to better predict weather conditions at Inverness, Stornoway, Wick John O'Groats, Kirkwall and Sumburgh.
BBC: Scottish airports firm looks to Norway's winter tactics
Sascha Heiden of IHS Global Insight, a forecasting firm, thinks the scrappage schemes in Western Europe will boost sales by about 1.2m this year and reduce them by 600, 000 next year.
They use a forecasting model that relies, in particular, on the close historical relationship between company profits and two variables, total corporate investment in equipment and the commodity-price index published by The Economist.
Even normally cautious bodies like the International Energy Agency and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development are sounding the alarm, with the latter recently releasing a comprehensive report forecasting a world in 2050 that will be defined by resource constraint and its economic impacts.
Barclays is a bit more cautious, forecasting a 150, 000 rise in nonfarm payrolls and a decline in the unemployment rate to 7.8%.
FORBES: Bullish On Jobs After ADP Report? Watch Out For Winter Storm Nemo And Soft Retail Sales
However, the Bank thinks this will prove a temporary setback and is forecasting a revival in consumption, although it will grow below trend.
Verdict Research, a retail consultancy, is forecasting a 4.2% decline in the value of retail spending, excluding food and internet sales, in 2009.
He has also come under fire for switching contracts for the Meteorological Department's purchase of a weather forecasting computer.
There aren't many Western central banks with a worse forecasting record during this period than the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street.
"Consumers are looking back to periods of fashion that remind them of opportunity, " agrees Michael Fisher, menswear editor at Stylesight, a trend forecasting firm.
"Worried consumers are not likely to buy something challenging or too far out, too new, " says David Wolfe, creative director at the Doneger Group, a trend forecasting firm.
Europe's statistics agency Eurostat has recorded a provisional 2% contraction for 2012 while forecasting a 0.4% contraction for this year.
But Benjamin Swinburne, a media analyst at Morgan Stanley, is forecasting a surprisingly strong rebound in advertising, especially on television, because dealers' spending on car and truck ads has fallen implausibly low: down by 65% in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the same period last year.
The best way to see whether a fire-forecasting system works or not is to simulate a fire whose outcome is already known, and see whether the model correctly predicts what happened.
Standard Life said it expected a significant boost from the scheme over the years ahead, forecasting a potential 400, 000 extra savers.
While the current consensus suggests the economy will grow at only a 1.2% rate in Q3, we are forecasting a growth rate of 2.5%-plus.
The good news: 2010 is a World Cup year, which has the industry poised for a modest rebound, according to NPD Group, which is forecasting a 1% lift in sales for this year.
One minute a bull is forecasting that the Dow will hit 20, 000 and the next a bear says we will see the Dow at 6, 000.
The unemployment numbers will be a blow for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government, which was last year forecasting a jobless rate of 24.6% by the end of 2012.
Despite a national unemployment rate of 9.6%, the National Retail Federation is forecasting a 2.3% increase in holiday sales this year and analysts expect consumers to purchase at least one or two trendy gadgets.
FORBES: Will Electronics Shortages Cause Holiday Retail Crisis?
After posting a net loss for year ending Mar. 31 on weak demand, Sega Sammy is forecasting a return to profit this year, helped by the popularity of a pachinko machine featuring manga character Hokuto Ken and the release of a new Sonic the Hedgehog videogame.
Jon Reisner and Rod Linn at the Los Alamos National Laboratory have also devised a coupled fire-forecasting model, which runs on a supercomputer called Nirvana Blue.
The U.S. economy remains on a sluggish growth path, with Briefing.com forecasting for a 2013 GDP between one and two percent.
The LEI has a good record of forecasting recessions, and the latest readings show a continued pattern of economic growth.
The two imagined including a crop-forecasting tool to provide as much clarity as possible.
The company was forecasting a 15% annual rise in sales for the next few years.
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