Economic Indicators
Most of the indicators in the table below are discussed in a book by Constable and Wright.1
Summary and Links by James R. Martin
Capital Markets Main Page | Economics Related Main Page
|
Economic Indicators or Measurements |
Some Related Links |
| Automobile Sales | Wall Street Journal Auto Sales |
| Baltic Dry Index | Wikipedia definition |
| Beige Book | FRB Beige Book |
| Big Mac Index | The Economist Burgernomics |
| Book-to-Bill Ratio | Investopedia Definition |
| Box-office Receipts | Box Office Mojo |
| Business Outlook | Investopedia |
| CBOE Volatility Index | Wikipedia definition |
| CEO Confidence | The Confidence Board |
| Chain Store Sales, Retail Sales | Investopedia |
| Consumer Price Index | Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| Consumer Confidence Survey | The Conference Board |
| Consumer Sentiment | Federal Reserve Bank of St.Louis |
| Cooper Price | National Association of Realtors |
| Crack Spread | Wikipedia definition |
| Credit Availability Oscillator | A measure of how easy or difficult it is to borrow money. |
| Credit Spreads: The Risk Structure of Interest Rates | Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco |
| Current Account Deficit | Investopedia definition |
| Durable Goods Orders | U.S. Census Bureau |
| Economic Bubble Indicators, e.g., Income growth vs. Housing price growth, and Home prices adjusted for inflation illustrate the real estate bubble. | Aftershock |
| Employment Trends Index | The Conference Board |
| Existing Home Sales | National Association of Realtors |
| Federal Funds Rate | Wikipedia definition |
| Federal Government Budget Deficits and the National Debt | U.S. Debt Clock |
| Fertility Rates | The World Bank |
| GAO Fiscal year 2010 Financial Report of the United States Government | GAO U.S. Government Accountability Office |
| GDP Deflator | Federal Reserve Bank of St.Louis |
| Global Business Cycle Indicators | The Conference Board |
| Global Economic Conditions Survey Report: Q4 2011 | IMA PDF - "Overall the stage appears to be set for a renewed global economic downturn in 2012 and most respondents to the [...survey] certainly believe this to be the case." |
| Gold Price | GoldPrice.Org |
| Gross Domestic Product per Capita | GPO Economic Indicators and Fraser |
| Help Wanted OnLine | The Conference Board |
| Housing Permits and Starts | Investopedia |
| Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization | Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System |
| Institute for Supply Management Manufacturing Survey | Institute of Supply Management |
| Institute for Supply Management Non-Manufacturing Survey | Institute of Supply Management |
| JOC-ECRI Industrial Price Index | Bloomberg |
| Libor - London Interbank Offered Rates | Wikipedia definition and Libor Rate History |
| London Metal Exchange Inventories | Investment Tools.Com |
| M2 Money Supply | Federal Reserve Bank of St.Louis |
| Misery Index | U.S. Misery Index = Unemployment rate + Inflation rate |
| Net Exports | Federal Reserve Bank of St.Louis |
| New Home Sales | U.S. Census Bureau |
| NFIB Confidence Survey | NFIB or National Federation of Independent Business |
| Personal Savings Rate | Federal Reserve Bank of St.Louis |
| Philadelphia Fed: The Aruoba-Diebold-Scotti Business Conditions Index | Philadelphia Fed |
| Philadelphia Fed: Business Outlook Survey | Philadelphia Fed |
| Presidential Approval Rating | Gallup |
|
Producer Price Index |
Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| Productivity Report | Investopedia |
| Oil Inventories | Bloomberg |
| Real Interest Rates | Investopedia definition |
| Retail Investment Activity | Investing Answers |
|
Russell 2000 |
Russell Investments |
| Short Interest | Investopedia definition |
| Survey of Economists | CNNMoney |
| Tankan Survey | Investopedia definition |
| Ted Spread | Wikipedia - The difference between the interest rates on interbank loans and on short-term U.S. government debt ("T-bills") |
| Texas "Zombie Bank" Ratio | Wikipedia definition |
| Tic Data | U.S. Department of The Treasury |
| TIPS Spread (Monitors inflation) | Learning Markets |
| Trade Balance Report | Investopedia |
| Truck Tonnage Index | Investopedia definition |
| Underemployment or Slack Investment | Economic Policy Institute |
| Unemployment rate - and definitions of U3, U4, U5, and U6 | Bureau of Labor Statistics |
| Unit Labor Costs Government | OECD and OECD.StatExtracts |
| Vixen Index | Chapter 50 of Constable and Wright's Book. See footnote 1. |
|
Yield Curve |
Wikipedia definition |
Notes:
1 Constable, S. and R. E. Wright. 2011. The Wall Street Journal Guide to 50 Economic Indicators That Really Matter: From Big Macs to "Zombie Banks", the Indicators Smart Investors Watch to Beat the Market. Harper Business. (Contents).
2 Wiedemer, D., R. A. Wiedemer and C. Spitzer. 2011. Aftershock: Protecting Yourself and Profit in the Next Global Financial Meltdown, Second Edition. Wiley. These authors discuss six economic bubbles: The real estate bubble, the stock market bubble, the private debt bubble, the discretionary spending bubble, the dollar bubble, and the government debt bubble. Their analysis indicates that these bubbles are not going to re-inflate. (Book Review).
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