The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between Earnings Management (EM) and certain characteristics of management Forecasts, among a sample of Swedish listed companies. The Forecast characteristics studied are: 1) Forecast venue: How explicitly is the Forecast presented? 2) Forecast precision: How detailed is the estimated number? 3) Forecast measure: Which measure(s) are Forecasted? We use a sample of 68 annual management Forecasts, obtained from year-end reports between the years 2007-2011. EM during the Forecasted year (2008-2012) is estimated using the cross-sectional modified-Jones model. The Forecast characteristics are then related to the degree of EM during the Forecasted period.

The Forecast ability of four well-known exchange rate models for theSwedish krona is tested in this thesis. The models that are tested arethe purchase power parity, the real interest differential model, thesticky-price model and a productivity model. In addition to thebenchmark, the random walk, they are also compared to each other.They are all tested on three different horizons one quarter, two quartersand four quarters. The mean squared Forecast error criteria and thedirection of change criteria are used for evaluation of the Forecastability. Only in a couple of cases are the Forecast ability of thetheoretical based models significant better than the random walk..

For the actors in the Swedish forest industry, it is important to have the ability to Forecast the state in the privateforests. The information that comes out of the Forecasts will be the base for the activities strategic direction.The aim in this exam is to survey what information that is present today as basis for Forecast calculation, andeven to examine what other possibilities it might have in the future.From a limited geography and out of different time perspective Forecast the felling potential in the privateforestry.With the word felling potential means regeneration felling and thinning. The exam will answer the questions:What information is needed to build a relevant Forecast model?Is this information available today?Is there information to buy that would improve the Forecast model?The result of this exam will be presented in form of a ”case study” showing the opportunities in the market tocreate a Forecast calculation of felling potential in the private forestry within the Forest Owners’ AssociationMellanskogs wood-area Dalarna..

Previous studies have shown that there is a relationship between voluntary disclosure and analysts' Forecast accuracy. However, there has been no research conducted specifically on bridges. Bridges contain information on how components such as price, volume, foreign exchange rates and acquisitions have impacted the financial performance between two periods. The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate the usage of bridges in quarterly financial information of companies listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. We provide a descriptive mapping of bridges and find that 30 out of 268 companies are presenting bridges as a part of their voluntary disclosures, with large firms being the most frequent users.

Volvo in Arvika produces wheel loaders, and the production is based on Forecasts. When a machine is ordered, the customer can choose what type of equipment he or she wants, and these equipments are also made Forecasts on. This is made by giving each equipment an estimated procentual usage that shows how many of the machines that will use this option. Today two people are working with the Forecasts, planer A in Eskilstuna and planer B in Arvika. Planer A makes a Forecast based on the historical outcome and planer B then makes adjustments of this based on how many options that are ordered.

Being able to predict the future had been an invaluable competitive advantage for any corporation. Forecasting is a vital part of any business, hence a good Forecast allows enterprises to invest in a beneficial way. However, there are several ways to prepare Forecasts and the Forecast methodology can vary. An industry that is dependent on Forecasts is the energy industry. By predicting consumers' energy consumption, Swedish energy companies can hedge on the Nordic power market Nord Pool.

Prior studies have shown that earnings management can be used either to inform or to mislead investors about the future performance of a company. However, few studies have examined the impact of earnings management on Forecasting return on equity (ROE). The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether the ability to Forecast next year's ROE is improved when taking earnings management, measured as discretionary accruals, into account. This is examined by comparing a Forecast model that takes the magnitude of discretionary accruals into consideration with a model that does not. The study is based on companies that were listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during 2002-2012.

Wind is used as an energy source all over the world. To be able to use this effectively, there is a need for as good Forecasts and Forecast models as possible. One of these models is Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS®) that is used to calculate short time Forecasts. This model is used here to calculate wind speeds at two different areas in Västra Götaland, Bengtsfors and Vänersborg. There are also wind measurements with SODAR stations for these areas.

In this essay we aim at finding an appropriate flash estimator of the quarterly Swedish private consumption (PK). With the aid of the statistics program TRAMO we study if monthly data from the consumer survey (HIP) and retail industry (DH) can be used in a transfer function model (TFM) to Forecast PK. In the work of assessing the state of the market and the business trend, fast information from the national accounts is needed for making decisions for the economic politics in Sweden. A way to speed up the information process is to use leading economic indicators to asses this development. Another way to get information faster is to use a flash estimate.

A multivariate cross-sectional model is used in this thesis to proxy for expected earnings and to estimate return on equity for 214 companies over the period 2009-2013, using Swedish data. The model, which has never been tested on Swedish data before, is first confirmed to function as a Forecasting model for expected return. Furthermore, the model is evaluated through a comparison with two univariate models based on the assumption that return on equity follows a mean reversion process. Forecast accuracy is calculated as the difference of estimated returns and actual returns. The results show that the univariate models' Forecasts are superior to the multivariate model's..

Forecasting stock market returns is an interesting topic since more and more Swedes enter and invest in this market. Theory implies, however, that such exercises should be impossible. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the possibility to Forecast future stock returns by looking at macroeconomic variables? history. The study is limited to the Swedish market as it is based on the OMXS30-index which represents the 30 most exchanged stocks on Stockholms¬börsen, the Swedish stock exchange.

To effectively manage a forest resource for both economic and other values good planning is required. The problem is complex since you want to know which forest to cut and when. Often a hierarchical planning structure is applied, including strategic (long-term), tactical, (medium-term) and operational level. Today SCA Forest is one of few forestry companies in the northern Sweden with an integrated forest wood supply and industry. The goals of the company are to supply their own industries with wood and to manage the resources of the forest through a long-term perspective with satisfactory profitability.

We have by Statistics Sweden (SCB) been given the task of using different dynamic regression models in order to Forecast service price index for sea transport. The aim is to see whether these models provide better Forecasts than those previously used. This essay aim to identify, estimate and evaluate the selected prediction models. Through our data material we were given access to 28 sightings of sea transport index during the period of 2004 q1 to 2010 q4. We have chosen to evaluate three different transfer function models, one ARIMA model and one naive Forecasting model. The input variables we decided to test in our transfer function models were the price of petroleum products, the port activity in Swedish ports and the lending rate of Swedish Central bank. The results of our study suggest that transfer function models generally provide better models than the ARIMA model and the naive Forecast model.

Background: An evaluation of analysts´ Forecasting ability is interesting since their estimates constitute an important part in stock valuation and investment decisions. The recent years´ development in the stock market has lead to criticism of analysts? deficient Forecasts. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate analysts´ Forecasting ability concerning companies quoted at Stockholmsbörsen between 1987 and 2002. We also intend to discuss possible explanations for analysts? behavior in case of deficient accuracy.

The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate and update load curves for Fortum Distribution AB. Theload curve method is a tool used to Forecast the strain of an electric grid. The method is based oncustomer annual energy consumption, outdoors temperature as well as customer category. Theload curve method was established by Svenska Elverksföreningen at the start of the nineties andfocus was put on standardizing annual energyconsumption, in order to make the method usableacross the nation. Present consumption patterns have changed since the original load curves wereproduced, which leads to a need to update the load curves.The work began with an update of present load curves according to recommendation taken fromanother earlier thesis.