Time Series Technical Analysis via New Fast Estimation Methods: A Preliminary Study in Mathematical Finance

New fast estimation methods stemming from control theory lead to a fresh look at time series, which bears some resemblance to "technical analysis". The results are applied to a typical object of financial engineering, namely the forecast of foreign exchange rates, via a "model-free" setting, i.e., via repeated identifications of low order linear difference equations on sliding short time windows. Several convincing computer simulations, including the prediction of the position and of the volatility with respect to the forecasted trendline, are provided. $\mathcal{Z}$-transform and differential algebra are the main mathematical tools.