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The plant began its regression when the rain stopped falling.
When you use linear regression to model the data, there will typically be some amount of error between the predicted value as calculated from your model, and each data point. These differences are called "residuals". If those residuals appear to be essentially random noise (i.e. they resemble a normal (a.k.a. "Gaussian") distribution), then that offers support that your linear model is a good one for the data. However, if your errors are not normally distributed, then they are likely correlated in some way which indicates that your model is not adequately taking into consideration some factor in your data. It could mean that your data is non-linear and that linear regression is not the appropriate modeling technique.
You question is how linear regression improves estimates of trends. Generally trends are used to estimate future costs, but they may also be used to compare one product to another. I think first you must define what linear regression is, and what the alternative forecast methods exists. Linear regression does not necessary lead to improved estimates, but it has advantages over other estimation procesures. Linear regression is a mathematical procedure that calculates a "best fit" line through the data. It is called a best fit line because the parameters of the line will minimizes the sum of the squared errors (SSE). The error is the difference between the calculated dependent variable value (usually y values) and actual their value. One can spot data trends and simply draw a line through them, and consider this a good fit of the data. If you are interested in forecasting, there are many methods available. One can use more complex forecasting methods, including time series analysis (ARIMA methods, weighted linear regression, or multivariant regression or stochastic modeling for forecasting. The advantages to linear regression are that a) it will provide a single slope or trend, b) the fit of the data should be unbiased, c) the fit minimizes error and d) it will be consistent. If in your example, the errors from regression from fitting the cost data can be considered random deviations from the trend, then the fitted line will be unbiased. Linear regression is consistent because anyone who calculates the trend from the same dataset will have the same value. Linear regression will be precise but that does not mean that they will be accurate. I hope this answers your question. If not, perhaps you can ask an additional question with more specifics.
You may get more ideas from wikipedia under regression analysis. You can do a regression analysis with as little as 2 x,y points- but is it meaningful? Requirements for valid or meaningful relationships can be subjective. However, in my opinion, if meaningful relationships are to be created using regression analysis, the following are important: a) The independent variable should have values that are independent (no relation exists between them). b) There should be a good rational or experimental basis for identifying the independent variables and the resultant dependent variable. c) Sufficient data should be collected in a controlled environment to identify the relationship. d) The validity of the relationship should easy to identify both visually and by numbers (see "goodness of fit" tests).
Advantages: The estimates of the unknown parameters obtained from linear least squares regression are the optimal. Estimates from a broad class of possible parameter estimates under the usual assumptions are used for process modeling. It uses data very efficiently. Good results can be obtained with relatively small data sets. The theory associated with linear regression is well-understood and allows for construction of different types of easily-interpretable statistical intervals for predictions, calibrations, and optimizations. Disadvantages: Outputs of regression can lie outside of the range [0,1]. It has limitations in the shapes that linear models can assume over long ranges The extrapolation properties will be possibly poor It is very sensitive to outliers It often gives optimal estimates of the unknown parameters.