Chartology: Some things Our Man's noticed...

Posting has been light recently, with Our Man has been distracted in the last few weeks by securing his permanent good-standing with US Immigration and dusting off his resume for the job-hunt.   However, with the back of that work broken, expect a livelier pace in the coming days/weeks.

As a little taster; here are some charts that Our Man’s keeping his beady eye on 

1) and 2) Some Economic Indicators

Two “Goldilocks” indicators (meaning that 0 = average trend growth) that give a reasonable sense where the economy is.  The first, the Chicago Fed National Activity Index, is based on 85 data series has been useful over its 10yrs in existence, with -0.70 normally being an indication that a recession is heading this way. 

The second, the Auroba-Diebold-Scotti Business Conditions index, is updated daily as new information comes in.  They’re both showing signs of rolling over but neither currently shows a double dip.

3) and 4) Copper

While the S&P has charged ahead since the start of the year Copper’s been left behind and failed to break December’s highs.  Our Man’s also still keeping his beady eye on the LME Warehouse Inventory levels.

5) Shanghai Composite Index
China was the first major market to carve out its bottom back in December 08, and start wandering higher.  It also was the first to peak in August 2009, and the peaks only seem to be getting lower…