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Tag Archives: what the function

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Solid Coding using ‘Natural’ Intelligence Suggests Always Start with FRED – What the Function

Biomass Rules Posted on June 5, 2025 by Mark JennerJune 5, 2025

This final lesson on shaping data in Excel is brought to you by the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) website.  Reviewing the YouTube videos created for this data-shaping exercise, the 4 videos span 45 total … Continue reading →

Posted in analytics, economics, education, macro, policy, science, What the Function | Tagged $ sign anchors, be fierce, be passionate, be smart, Consumer Price Index (CPI), download data, Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), INDEX/MATCH(), LEFT(), month, rapid data download, ready-to-use time-series data, RIGHT(), solid coding 'natural' intelligence suggests always start with FRED, St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, text vs numeric dates, TEXT(), VLOOKUP(), what the function | Leave a reply

Excel Data Shaping Fundamentals VLOOKUP() – What the Function

Biomass Rules Posted on June 3, 2025 by Mark JennerJune 3, 2025

A traditional way of shaping data in Excel is by using the VLOOKUP() function.  After identifying the item to look up and the array in which to search for it, a range is identified where the new information can be … Continue reading →

Posted in analytics, economics, education, policy, science, What the Function | Tagged autofill dates, Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), Consumer Price Index (CPI), data transpose, End-arrow keystroke, Excel data shaping fundamentals, HLOOKUP(), INDEX/MATCH(), manual drag and drop, month, numeric date, reshaping data, spot check new values with original, text dates, TEXT(), VLOOKUP(), what the function, XLOOKUP() | Leave a reply

Excel Data Shaping Fundamentals Index/Match – What the Function

Biomass Rules Posted on May 30, 2025 by Mark JennerMay 30, 2025

One of the most powerful Excel function tools is the INDEX/MATCH() combination.  It can be set to find specific character strings and deliver the cell contents at the intersection of the row and column string matches. This is the third … Continue reading →

Posted in analytics, economics, education, policy, science, What the Function | Tagged $ sign anchors, Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), Consumer Price Index (CPI), cut and paste, date autofill, Excel data shaping fundamentals, index, INDEX/MATCH(), LEFT(), MATCH(), numeric dates, RIGHT(), shaping data, text dates, VLOOKUP(), what the function, YOUTUBE companion video | Leave a reply

Excel Data Shaping Fundamentals Cut and Paste – What the Function

Biomass Rules Posted on May 27, 2025 by Mark JennerMay 27, 2025

When cleaning data files in Excel, one never moves away from manually pushing data around.  Manually entering data by hand, sorting, and/or dragging and dropping in a new location; they all take time.  But for small amounts of data, a … Continue reading →

Posted in analytics, economics, education, policy, science, What the Function | Tagged Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), Consumer Price Index (CPI), data validation, drag green square in highlighted range, drop and drag, Excel data shaping fundamentals cut and paste, fill dates, first 3 consecutive values, INDEX/MATCH(), insert sheet, paste special, short cuts work until they don’t, small datasets, transpose, what the function | Leave a reply

Excel Data Shaping Fundamentals File Prep – What the Function

Biomass Rules Posted on May 22, 2025 by Mark JennerMay 26, 2025

The last few months have provided opportunity to flex my spreadsheet skillset.  Excel code and technique seemed to erupt through the keyboard.  In the last few months, diverse datasets have included: 2024 household food expenditures 2024 household power consumption and … Continue reading →

Posted in analytics, definition, economics, macro, policy, science, What the Function | Tagged Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), clean data, Consumer Price Index (CPI), CPI-U, cut and pasting, download file, empowering data skills for skeptics, Excel data shaping fundamentals, file prep, INDEX/MATCH() function, US City Average not seasonally adjusted, VLOOKUP() function, what the function | Leave a reply

Selecting Meaningful Labels for 130,000 Data Points – What the Function

Biomass Rules Posted on May 7, 2025 by Mark JennerMay 7, 2025

A year contains half a million minutes.  The residential solar panel data arrived in five-minute increments, or about 20 percent of the annual minute universe.  Adding in the utility generated data, the two data sources delivered about 130,000 data points. … Continue reading →

Posted in analytics, definition, economics, firm, policy, production, science, What the Function | Tagged $ sign anchor, annual data, cell address, columns, day, files, five-minute intervals, hour, kilowatt-hour (kWh), kilowatts (kW), month, rows, selecting meaningful labels for 130000 data points, sheet address, sheets, solar panel data, watts, what the function, year | Leave a reply

Sheets Happen, …But Not Automatically – What the Function

Biomass Rules Posted on May 5, 2025 by Mark JennerMay 5, 2025

Excel sheets happen, but only if one knows the hidden menus upon which to click. One of the most useful Excel tricks is copying spreadsheets.  Copying and moving a sheet doesn’t show up a lot in the spreadsheet tricks that … Continue reading →

Posted in analytics, definition, education, policy, science, What the Function | Tagged backups, But Not Automatically, copying sheets, Create a copy checkbox, Excel sheets, good spreadsheet habits, Move or Copy menu, moving sheets, objects, redundancies, Sheet tab menu, Sheets Happen, To book dropdown menu., what the function, worksheets | Leave a reply

Evaluating Loan Schedules – What the Function

Biomass Rules Posted on December 11, 2024 by Mark JennerDecember 11, 2024

Last week Biomass Rules posted about comparing 4-year loans to 7-loans.  The Wall Street Journal published an article that discussed negative equity from partially paid car loans.  There are multiple factors to consider with more than one correct solution.  The … Continue reading →

Posted in analytics, science, What the Function | Tagged absolute address anchor, evaluating loan schedules, interest payment function, interest rate, IPMT(), monthly loan payment calculation, negative equity, PMT(), PPMT(), present value, principal, principal payment function, renewable natural gas RNG, term of loan, unique period number, validation check, Wall Street Journal, what the function | Leave a reply

Deriving Real Values for AFBF’s Thanksgiving Survey – What The Function

Biomass Rules Posted on November 26, 2024 by Mark JennerNovember 26, 2024

The American Farm Bureau Federation does an excellent job with the annual Thanksgiving Meal Survey, and they have for nearly 40 years.  They have the infrastructure and the expertise to make it work every year.  All of their prices are … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, macro, policy, What the Function | Tagged $ sign anchor, 39 years, American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), Consumer Price Index (CPI), deflating, deriving real values for AFBF's Thanksgiving Survey, Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), food, food inflation, meal for 10 people, real price of food unchanged for 4 decades, real prices, Thanksgiving Meal Survey, what the function | Leave a reply

Magical Conversion of Text to Dates – What The Function

Biomass Rules Posted on October 14, 2024 by Mark JennerOctober 14, 2024

Biomass Rules Blog students who were working ahead on last week’s crude oil and corn price comparison likely hit an impasse when downloading the monthly corn price data from USDA.  The USDA, National Ag Statistics Service (NASS), Quick Stats monthly … Continue reading →

Posted in analytics, science, What the Function | Tagged coding, combining cell contents, CONCAT(), concatenation, Conversion, date formats, DATEVALUE(), magical conversion of text to dates what the function, MS Excel, National Ag Statistics Service (NASS), Quick Stats, text strings, text to dates, USDA, what the function | Leave a reply

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Mark Jenner, PhD
Biomass Rules
Greenville, IL 62246
c. 618.223.9331
e. biomassrules@gmail.com

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Mission Statement:
Providing solutions through the strategic utilization of all kinds of biomass; the development of new markets for food, fiber, and fuels; and streamlining regulations.

bio·mass:
ˈbī-ō-ˌmas. noun. 1 : the unit area or volume of living matter, 2 : plant materials and animal waste used as renewable feedstocks into new processes.

rules:
'rül. 1: noun. 1 : regulations, bylaws or governing procedure, 2: verb. a : to exert control, direction, or influence on, b : to declare authoritatively.

Manure…
is not a four-letter word.

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