Economic Indicator

Economic Indicator
A piece of economic data, usually of macroeconomic scale, that is used by investors to interpret current or future investment possibilities and judge the overall health of an economy. Economic indicators can potentially be anything the investor chooses, but specific pieces of data released by government and non-profit organizations have become widely followed - these include:

- The Consumer Price Index (CPI)
- Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
- Unemployment figures
- The price of crude oil

An economic indicator is only useful if one interprets it correctly. History has shown strong correlations between economic growth (as measured by GDP) and corporate profit growth. However, determining whether a specific company will grow its earnings based on one indicator is nearly impossible. Indicators give us signs along the road, but the best investors will utilize many economic indicators, looking for patterns and verifications within different sets of data.

Most economic indicators have a specific schedule for release, allowing investors to prepare for and plan on seeing certain information at certain times of the month and year.


Investment dictionary. . 2012.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • economic indicator — ➔ indicator * * * economic indicator UK US noun [C] ECONOMICS ► information that shows how well or badly an economy is doing: »A few national economic indicators suggest the economy had begun to strengthen. »He compiles an index of local leading… …   Financial and business terms

  • economic indicator — UK US noun [countable] [singular economic indicator plural economic indicators] a quantity that is used to measure a particular feature of the economy Thesaurus: economy and economicshyponym …   Useful english dictionary

  • Economic indicator — Economics …   Wikipedia

  • economic indicator — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms economic indicator : singular economic indicator plural economic indicators a quantity that is used to measure a particular feature of the economy …   English dictionary

  • economic indicator — Statistic used to determine the state of general economic activity or to predict it in the future. A leading indicator is one that tends to turn up or down before the general economy does (e.g., building permits, common stock prices, and business …   Universalium

  • ECONOMIC INDICATOR — (экономический индикатор) статистические данные, показывающие общие тенденции в экономике; …   Глоссарий финансовых и биржевых терминов

  • economic indicator — criterion or measure of the state of the economy …   English contemporary dictionary

  • economic indicator — /ˌi:kənɒmɪk ɪndɪkeɪtəz/ noun various statistics, e.g. for the unemployment rate or overseas trade, which show how the economy is going to perform in the short or long term …   Dictionary of banking and finance

  • leading economic indicator — UK / US noun [countable] Word forms leading economic indicator : singular leading economic indicator plural leading economic indicators economics an economic indicator (= quantity used to measure something about the economy) that shows something… …   English dictionary

  • leading economic indicator — UK US noun [countable] [singular leading economic indicator plural leading economic indicators] economics an economic indicator (=quantity used to measure somet …   Useful english dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”