| floating average (IS-B) |
Mathematical function that derives a new data series from an existing one, in which for each value N(p) for position p of the existing data series, the arithmetic mean of value N (p - n, p - n + 1, ... , p) is formed and entered as a value of the new data series.
The floating average is used as a smoothing function, with which bigger swings in the values of a sample can be evened out. In time series (for example, stock exchange prices) it serves to indicate trends.