Category: FAQ

How to turn series into percentage?

To convert a ratio to a percentage, you need to multiply the ratio by 100.

There are two main possibilities to achieve this:

1. The Arithmetic analysis

Set the 2nd operation field to 'Multiply' and 'Value operand' to 100:

2. Formula

You can also use the formula language, by appending '*100' at the end of the expression.

How to create an index?

In Macrobond you can create index in two ways:

1. If your purpose is only to scale series to start at a specific value, like 100, then the Rebase analysis should be used.

You’ll find more information on using the Rebase analysis here.

2. The Index Builder analysis can be used to create indices that measure self-financing investment strategy returns, as well as indices built as weighted averages of a number of series.  

There are several calculation methods to choose from – for more details please refer to this article.

How to add a trend line/best fit line?

There are two ways of adding trend/best fit line - Statistics and Regression analyses. First one is designed for typical Time charts, second for Scatter charts.

Note, it is also possible to omit both those analyses and just use calculations recreating what Regression does and present outcome on Category scatter chart.

Line from Statistics

In the Statistics analysis, add a 'Trend' on the series of interest. If needed, set the data range on which the trend line should be calculated, and untick 'Extrapolate' if you want the trend line only to be drawn on the defined range of calculation.

This will yield a trend line calculated using linear regression.

Line from Regression

This is the only way to add best fit line in a Scatter chart.

  1. Check boxes for 'Output the dependent series' and 'Output the explanatory series'.
  2. Check 'Include' for at least two series and mark one as 'Is dependent'.
  3. Add Scatter chart. Go there and open Graph layout (Ctrl+L).
  4. Pair series to generate a regression line. Make sure to set the right order of the series in Graph layout window (Note that when series is lagged there won't be a straight line as outcome.):

    a) Pair #1: the explanatory and the dependent series

    b) Pair #2: the explanatory and the predicted series

    Line A Line B
    series 1 series 1
    series 2  series 2 [predicted]
  5. Click on one of the lines, go to Presentation properties > Appearance, change Graph style to Custom. Then set Line to None and select Marker style.

Example file: Regression line

Line through calculations

We recommend using Regression analysis, as it is shorter way, but it is also possible to recreate all calculations without Regression and represent best fit line on Category Scatter chart.

Example file: Best fit line for last values of group of series with and WITHOUT Regression analysis

For more information:

Regression analysis

Statistics analysis

Trend channel / trend band

How to stop new series from being automatically added to a chart?

When you add a new series to a document, it’s automatically included in your charts. To disable this, you have to do the following for each of the charts:  

  1. Click on an empty area in your chart (i.e., below the x-axis). This opens the general chart properties under the Presentation properties tab.
  2. Click 'More' in the chart elements box.
  3. Now, untick the option 'Include new series automatically'. 

How to specify window length in formula language?

Some formulas require you to define a window length.

Let’s take as example the formula for a rolling mean:

Mean(series, window)

For the window length you should input the number of observations over which the function will be calculated. The number of observations is based on the frequency of the document.

Instead of typing a number, you may also use other formulas to get the number of observations in a specified period, such as YearsLength(1), QuartersLength(4) or MonthsLength(12).

For example, you can calculate the one year rolling mean of a series, by using the following formula:

Mean(series, YearsLength(1))

The advantage of this is that it is not necessary to concentrate on the frequency of the document in order to determine the number of observations.

For more information:

Formula analysis

How to rearrange analyses in the Analysis tree?

Drag the analysis up or down. You can only move analyses within the same branch. This does not affect calculations but can help you reorganize your document.

If you want to swap a higher analysis with a lower one (higher/lower in tree hierarchy), you can right-click on the analysis and click on 'Move up'. Note that you can do this only if the lower analysis isn't accompanied by other analyses.

Q&A

Quick answers & simple, step-by-step solutions. For technical questions see: Technical Q&A