Frequently Asked Questions

Please e-mail me any suggestions.

 

How do I estimate a model in a frequency other than monthly, quarterly, or annual?

 

For any other frequency, say, daily, weekly, bimonthly, etc., date the observations as if the data were monthly, quarterly, or annual, without regard to the actual dates of the data.  For example, if data were weekly, but dated as if it were annual, the first week could be assigned the date of 200101, the second week 200201, the third week 200301, etc. 

 

Be aware that the earliest valid date code is 10101, corresponding to January 1 in the year 101.  All years must be greater than 100.  A year less than 100 is interpreted by the software as being in either the 20th or 21st centuries, that is, 1900 or 2000 is added to it.  In one place in the software, a date is constructed that is one period prior to the first date.  This rules out using 100 as the first year, since the software will interpret the prior year as being in the 20th century, not the first.  The earliest year that will “work” in the software is 101, which corresponds to the date code 10101.