First Steps In Economic Indicators

by Peter Temple

Economic Indicators are anything but "just numbers" - they are the keys to unlocking invaluable information about market behavior. 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
- 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?" tidbits and cautionary tales, as well as special factors unique to specific indicators.

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2002

About the author

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Peter Temple has been involved in the City and its Financial Markets for nearly thirty-five years as a Fund Manager, an Investment Analyst and, for the last 17 years, as a Freelance Financial Journalist. He is a regular contributor to a number of publications including the Financial Times, Investors Chronicle, and Interactive Investor, and has written more than a dozen investment books. He is a Fellow of the Securities Institute. He and his wife, who works as his researcher, live and work in a converted water mill in the English Lake District.