Problem 15-07 (Algorithmic)

Refer to the gasoline sales time series data in the given table.

Week	Sales (1000s of gallons)
1	17
2	22
3	18
4	23
5	17
6	16
7	22
8	17
9	22
10	19
11	14
12	22

1. Compute four-week and five-week moving averages for the time series. Round your answers to two decimal places.

   Week	Sales	4-Week Moving Average	5-Week Moving Average
   1	17
   2	22
   3	18
   4	23
   5	17	_______
   6	16	_______	________
   7	22	_______	________
   8	17	_____	______
   9	22	______	_______
   10	19	______	_______
   11	14	_______	_____
   12	22	_____	________

2. Compute the MSE for the four-week and five-week moving average forecasts. Round your intermediate calculations and final answers to two decimal places. MSE for four-week moving average = _______ MSE for five-week moving average = ________
3. What appears to be the best number of weeks of past data (three, four, or five) to use in the moving average computation? Recall that MSE for the three-week moving average is 12.56. Five