Patent ID: 7072863

Claim:
A method utilizing a computer to predict a value of a target variable based on predictions of other variables, said method comprising: obtaining historically realized values for the target variable at each of plural time points; obtaining a first set of predicted values for each of plural baseline variables, the plural baseline variables being different from the target variable, and the first set of predicted values comprising predictions of what future values of the baseline variables will be; obtaining a second set of predicted values for each of the plural baseline variables, the second set of predicted values having been predicted subsequent to prediction of the first set of predicted values and also comprising predictions of what future values of the baseline variables will be; generating a forecasting model by fitting the first set of predicted values for the plural baseline variables to the historically realized values for the target variable; and utilizing a computer to generate a predicted value for the target variable from the second set of predicted values for at least a subset of the plural baseline variables using the forecasting model, wherein the target variable is an observable and verifiable value of at least one of: (i) an existing asset or (ii) a financial and/or economic measure that represents an aspect of an existing economic environment, and wherein the predicted value for the target variable is a prediction of what a future value of the target variable will be.