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The best economic indicator you've never heard of
- hugh 18y agoInteresting, I had indeed not heard of it. And before you get all confused like I did, I should point out that this article is from 2003. Recent data: http://www.investmenttools.com/futures/bdi_baltic_dry_index.htm http://www.investmenttools.com/futures/bdi_baltic_dry_index....
- phr 18y agoThey mention it fairly often on the day-time market-watching shows on CNBC.
- ivankirigin 18y agoIf you're not actively trading, you should only care about long term changes. The best indicator I know is changes in productivity. It is a great predictor of permanent increases in wealth.
- dhimes 18y agoHere's another reference to various economic indicators that appeared in the Boston Globe back in late October. http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/10/26/off_the_charts?mode=PF http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/10/26/...
- biohacker42 18y agoThe BDI lags large macro economic trends like growth in China. And it doesn't reveal anything more specific then booming growth in trade with China.
- bmj 18y agoYet another post about it, and more recent: http://www.contrarianprofits.com/articles/the-baltic-dry-index-the-only-economic-indicator-worth-tracking-right-now/8453 http://www.contrarianprofits.com/articles/the-baltic-dry-ind...
- bkmrkr 18y agoAlso the index fell by 90% recently
- dougp 18y agoI am a fan of the christmas light economic indicator http://www.reason.com/news/show/32837.html http://www.reason.com/news/show/32837.html
- bootload 18y ago"... The BDI is a good leading indicator for economic growth and production ..." So is sales of scrap metal indicated by the LME (London Metal Exchange) http://www.metalprices.com/#tables http://www.metalprices.com/#tables A lot of scrap metal merchants are going out of business in China at the moment as demand drops in the cut throat market.
- jamiequint 18y agoThis is kind of dubious. Check out the BDI graph here. http://www.investmenttools.com/futures/bdi_baltic_dry_index.htm http://www.investmenttools.com/futures/bdi_baltic_dry_index.... In a world full of indices for anything you can think of some things are likely to map the economy well at any point in time, until they don't. Perhaps I don't have enough of a formal economics/finance education, but looking at the current BDI graph and comparing it with the other economic indicators I didn't see that much consensus.