Madelyn Davis is a research analyst for a large investment firm. She has been assigned the task of forecasting sales for Walmart Stores, Inc., for fiscal year 2011. She collects quarterly sales for Walmart Stores, Inc. (in millions $) for the 10- year period 2001 through 2010, a portion of which is shown in the accompanying table.

Data for Case Study 18.2 Walmart Quarterly Sales (in millions $)

In a report, use the sample information to:
1. Use a scatter plot to determine which model best depicts trend for Walmart's sales.
2. Determine whether or not a seasonal component exists in the series, using the seasonal dummy variable approach.
3. Given the conclusions on trend and the seasonal component, provide forecast values for the four quarters of 2011 as well as total projected sales for fiscal year 2011.

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Quarters Ended Year 2001 2002 April 30 42,985 48,052 July 31 46,112 52,799 October 31 45,676 52,738 January 31 56,556 64,210 2010 93,471 100,082 98,667 112,826