Consumer Spending Indicators for the Global Macro Trader
When tracking the economy one of the most important things to follow is that of consumer spending. The consumer accounts for a huge portion of the economy and in a sense is he entire economy. Yes we have corporations and the government but without the consumer we have no one to spend and no one to pay taxes which eventually amkes it so corporations dont exist and the government falls.
So what indicators does the global macro trader track and study each month? Well we have at least ten indicators but there are many more. Anything from counting the number of people going in and out of the mall, to anecdotal evidence.
Some of the most important indicators available from the St Louis Fed are as follows: retail sales, personal consumption expenditures, unit auto and truck saes, BTM/USWB Chain Store Sales Index, LJR redbook report, Goldman Sachs Retail Index for Same Store Sales, consumer confidence, consumer sentiment, ABC Money Magazine consumer comfort index, and consumer installment debt.
The list may look long but if you want to make consistent and high returns you have to be willing to put in the extra time to make it work. Macro Trading is not east but it is not that hard either.
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