12 — Advanced Models

State-Space Models#

Advanced✓ Mathematical
◆ The PatternHidden states evolving under noise

State-space models assume a hidden state evolves over time according to a transition equation, and we observe it with noise through an observation equation. The Kalman filter optimally estimates the hidden state. ETS and ARIMA can both be written in state-space form.

State:   xt = F·xt−1 + wt   |   Obs:   yt = H·xt + vt
The Kalman filter recursively estimates xt from noisy observations yt, balancing model prediction with measurement update.
// Interactive — Kalman filter tracking
Process Noise20
Observation Noise50
# Python — Kalman-based structural model
from statsmodels.tsa.statespace.structural import UnobservedComponents

model = UnobservedComponents(
    series, level='local linear trend',
    seasonal=12
).fit()
forecast = model.get_forecast(steps=24)
Pattern bridge: The Kalman filter is the time-series equivalent of Bayesian updating — prior × likelihood = posterior, applied recursively at each time step. In markets, the hidden state is the true “fair value” obscured by market noise.
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