Averaging the first six data values is a way of initializing the forecasts in an exponential smoothing process.

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Averaging the initial values is a common method for initializing the forecasts in exponential smoothing. In particular, the simple exponential smoothing model uses the average of the first few observations as the initial forecast for all future periods. Usually, the number of observations used in the averaging depends on the level of noise and variability in the data.

Averaging the First Six Data Values Is a Way of Initializing