First Steps In Economic Indicators

by Temple, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780273659112
• ISBN10: 0273659111
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-11-30
• Publisher: Trans-Atlantic Pubns

Summary

Economic Indicators are anything but "just numbers" - they are the keys to unlocking invaluable information about market behaviour. Covering all the major indicators reported by private and government statistical agencies - including the pricing index, employment figures, retail sales, housing - this comprehensive resource provides full descriptions of indicators and what they represent, their impact on the direction of interest rates, exchange rates, and the stock market, and how and why the market reacts as it does. The book also offers brief guidelines for gearing your investment strategies to these ever-changing economic statistics. Written in a clear non-technical terms and clearly organized by sectors of the economy, this accessible guide: takes a closer look at GDP, with an overview of the macro-economic framework using the standard national income computing methodology compares and contrasts consumer sector indicators to distinguish which series are more reliable and consistent differentiates between all measures of inflation, and makes the key distinction between inflation in the goods market and inflation in the services market explores foreign market indicators, including the monthly and quarterly indicators for the foreign exchange, domestic bond and equity markets features revealing "did you know?" titbits and cautionary tales, as well as special factors unique to specific indicators.

Table of Contents

Introduction

How Economic Indicators are Calculated The RPI - an example Building blocks Pitfalls

Who Collects and Issues them? Who's who in international and national statistics Commentary on national statistics websites Timing of releases

Who Forecasts Them? Adam Smith's army How do the forecasters work? Are their forecasts accurate? Information on economic forecasts

Prices and Money Inflation Money Supply Producer prices

What We Spend Consumer spending Consumer confidence Public spending Business spending

The Work We Do Gross domestic product Business confidence Index of production Employment and unemployment

What We Earn, Save and Borrow Average earnings Savings ratio Interest rates How interest rates are set Interest rate statistics

How We Trade Foreign trade and the balance of payments Exchange rates Commodity prices Terms of trade

Leading Indicators and Other Stories Retail sales Car production and sales Housing market statistics Advertising Stock market indices Composite leading indicators

Oddball Indicators The Big Mac index The hemline index The cocktail party theory The R-word index The odd-lot theory The put-call ratio The stock market capitalisation to GDP ratio Tobin's Q ratio

Glossary

Abbreviations

Further Reading

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.