I read this book with the perspective of being in an office that does economic forecasting and pays for compilations of several of the indicators listed. I also have taught and used these indicators in undergraduate economics courses. Baumohl's value added is the research he's done on how each indicator is compiled and how it correlates with other indicators. For example: How many firms are surveyed, what questions are on the survey, what is the typical response rate, how does the indicator tend to correlate with future GDP growth (basic rules of thumb), what is the history of the survey, etc.? I've read books like Capital Ideas that give the history of the creation of the Dow, S&P, and other indicators we see on the nightly news, and this book is somewhat similar. If you've never been exposed to reports from the BLS, BEA, etc., this book is a tutorial on what's what.

The major indices are updated daily by Bill McBride at calculatedrisk.com (which I check first thing every morning), and he makes handy charts. But he focuses more heavily on real estate and does not cover dozens of indicators included in this book (some for good reason as some have minimal impact).

Here's how I recommend reading it: Make a spreadsheet with tabs for leading, coincident, and lagging economic indicators (I made an additional one for international). Add indicators to the sheet where appropriate, follow the links (or search to find the correct ones as my version of the book [2008] has several broken links) and start tracking the numbers as they update over time. This gives you a one-page snapshot of the trends of several indicators as opposed to just one at a time, as you generally get with the news. It's a bit like reading an encyclopedia, but is a reference that should be on the shelf of anyone interested in the economy. 4 stars out of 5. ( )

Promises to Become Dog-eared Quickly

On any given weekday, stocks and bonds gyrate in response to some economic announcement.

Bernard Baumohl, a Time magazine economics writer with more than 20 years of experience, has written a guide to these indicators and their importance to the financial markets.

The book promises to become dog-eared quickly. In concise language it explains what Baumohl indicates are the most influential U. S. and International Economic Indicators. Beginning in Chapter 2, the author defines the phrases and concepts essential to an understanding of the indicators.

In Chapter 3 he jumps into the heart of the matter: U. S. economic indicators. Each indicator is evaluated using the following criteria:
• Why is it important?
• How is it computed?
• What does it day about the future?
• How might stocks, bonds and/or currencies react to its announcement?

In Chapter 4, he examines the 10 most influential foreign indicators using the same criteria.

In the final two chapters, Baumohl provides a list of web sites that compile economic data. What in the past costs thousands of dollars is available on the web at no cost.

If any facet of your life is effected by these indicators, you owe it to yourself to keep a copy of this book nearby. ( )