After reviewing the Wikipedia page on moving averages, the difference between the simple moving average and cumulative moving average are clear:
1) Simple moving average only considers the last n observations, and for every additional observation added to the average, the oldest one gets dropped
2) Cumulative moving average considers all prior observations
However, I am confused as to which moving average to use to smooth out data and identify trends.
As seen in the linked picture above, the cumulative moving average is quite distinctly different from both the observations themselves and the 4 period moving average. Is there a rule of thumb of when to use one or the other?
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