Moving average forecasting models are powerful tools that help managers in making educated forecasting decisions. A moving average is mainly used to forecast short historical range data. This tool along with other forecasting tools is now computerized such as in Excel, which makes it easy to use. With regard to moving average forecasting, read the following task.

Obtain the daily price data over the past five years for three different stocks. Data can be obtained from the Internet by using the following keywords: stock price data, return data, company data, and stock returns.

• Create trend-moving averages with the following values form: 10, 100, and 200. Graph the data with Excel.
• Create centered-moving averages with the following values form: 10, 100, and 200. Graph the data with Excel.
• How do the moving averages for the same values of m compare between a trend-moving average and a centered-moving average?
• Explain how these moving averages can assist a stock analyst in determining the stocks' price direction. Provide a detailed explanation with justifications.