Following my post on the M4 competition yesterday, Spyros Makridakis sent me these comments for posting here. I would like to thank Rob, my friend and co-author, for his insightful remarks concerning the upcoming M4 competition. As Rob says, the two of us have talked a great deal about competitions and I certainly agree with him about the “ideal” forecasting competition. In this reply, I will explain why I have deviated from the “ideal”, mostly for practical reasons and to ensure higher …