Secrets of Economic Indicators, The: Hidden Clues to Future Economic Trends and Investment Opportunities: Hidden Clues to Future Economic Trends and Investment Opportunities (3rd Edition) 3rd Edition

The Secrets of Economic Indicators is a far more detailed presentation of market measures than is the handy little volume by Constable and Wright. Bernard Baumohl is an economist at the Economic Outlook Group, has been with the Council on Foreign Relations, has contributed to national publications, and has appeared on PBS's Nightly Business Report; and this book is the third edition of the book.Baumohl begins this book with an interesting description of how governmental statistics are loosed on the public. Next, he explores the meaning of a number of important statistical terms and provides details about the most influential indicators of economic health. Given the increasingly global breadth of business today, he also presents an important section on international economic indicators. Finally, there often is a chasm between knowing about economic indicators in the abstract and being able to, on a daily basis, actually gaining accessing to them when the need arises. Thus, the most useful part of the book may be its concluding pages of website addresses for locating the data that he has so lucidly described.It would be a disservice if I were to conclude by saying that this is a fine textbook for an advanced undergraduate college course in Finance or Accounting. That would put off ninety percent of the readers who can benefit by it! Those who majored in the humanities, the arts, the social and natural Sciences (as well as many who simply paid attention in high school) are every bit as likely to put away a few pennies for investment as anyone who went to B-school. Be aware that any firm wanting to be the best in its field recruits people who stand on a solid liberal education. It is an exposure to the greater world that makes it possible to contextualizing why these indicators operate as they do. It is to this wider readership that I am glad to recommend this fine volume.J. Lindeen

This book is really quite something. I owe a debt of gratitude to Bernard Baumohl for his attention to detail. Not only does Bernard explain why each indicator is important - he walks you through the opportunities and challenges of relying on each one. He also gives you examples of how the indicators performed during certain historical events (the 2008 recession as an example). We use large data sets in the automotive and real estate sectors and "bolt-on" economic indicators to help us with predictive analytics. Bernard's insight has been invaluable in determining which indicators to add to the AI/ML exploration. A great book!

The first edition of this book I read was the one published in 2007, which was the second edition. I went from knowing very little, maybe even nothing, about economics to being able to hold my own in conversations with experts on the subject. This book isn't gonna make you an expert economist, but even better, it is really all you need if you are a trader/investor like me who's looking to forecast trends in the economy for the purpose of profiting. When it comes down to it, if you are able to forecast trends in the economy correctly, that's really all that matters. The hell with being able to speak with all the fancy jargon and mathematical economic models taught in academia. Therefore if you're looking for a textbook on economics, you're gonna come away disappointed. However, if you're looking to be able to gauge what is going on economically as a businessperson, you're gonna get exactly what you're looking for. One thing I love about this book is the fact that its written in a very simple and easy to understand format. That's a big thing to me, because I believe that if a person can't break a subject down into simple terms, then they most likely don't understand it well enough to teach it. This third edition, which I completed reading yesterday is just as great as the past edition(s), even greater since it applies to the changed economic environment. To me, there's no better feeling than reading a book such as this, then monitoring the economy and seeing events play out just as the author said that they likely would.EDIT: I'm gonna have to subtract a star from my rating because of a trick pulled by the publisher. I went to Barnes & Noble yesterday and saw this same book there with an additional chapter added which addressed Geopolitical events, a chapter which wasn't in the version being sold here. Supposedly, the one with the extra chapter is a "Special Barnes & Noble Edition." Personally, I don't think that's right. What if WE, those of us who bought it via Amazon want the extra chapter? Are we gonna have to buy another book just to get the extra chapter which should have been included in the first place?

This is an excellent reference that steps you through a long list of economic indicators. It doesn't tell you what to do with the indicators, i.e. what manipulations might be most appropriate (The Economic Indicator Handbook by Yamarone does that) or how to just them wrt tactical investment decisions, but Baumohl provides great insight on the sampling size and methodology used for each indicators (sometimes its a bit in-nerving how small the sample sizes are) as well as a qualitative discussion of what the reaction from the bond, equity and currency markets might be. The book also does a good job of highlighting some of the more useful global economic indicators. I thought so highly of it that after buying the Kindle edition, I also bought a hard copy.

🙌 A very complex topic well explained and easy to read. Very clear straight to point a to b. Love it so far. Recommend to anyone looking for some knowledge of how economy works.

The book made what was a morass of dry boring numbers useful to me. It takes some initiative to stick to it but the reader is very well rewarded for the effort.I read it in 2005 and have been studying and writing about economic indicators for my subscribers ever since.