Crazy Economic Indicators For ETF Investors

The market has all investors trying to decide which way things are ultimately going and whether the worst is over. Can those little day-to-day experiences give some clues as to where exchange traded funds (ETFs) and the broader economy are going?

Candice Lee Jones for Kiplinger says there are many clues of all types in everyday life that indicate which direction the economy is going. Here are 10 possible economic indicators that can tell us where we’re headed. Can improvements in any of these areas signal a turnaround?

1. Ticket Sales Are Up. According to the National Association of Theater Owners, the number of movie tickets sold in the first quarter of 2009 increased more than 9% from last year. Movies are the least expensive entertainment  around.

2. Gardening. Households that are growing their own food this year are up 19%; 54% of these say that saving money is part of the motivation.

3. Dating. Online dating services are surging. Does misery really love company? When the Dow Jones industrial average dropped to a five-year low last November, Match.com had its second busiest weekend of the year.

4. Romance Novels. Books are a low cost form of entertainment and the Harlequin romance novels are good way to break up the bad news.

5. Sleep. People are losing sleep over their jobs or lack thereof.

6. No More Plastic. Americans spent $10.3 billion in 2008 to endure 1.7 million cosmetic surgeries, which is 9% less than in 2007.

7. Eye Make Up Is Popular. The leading lipstick indicator - the idea that lipstick sales rise in economic downturn as consumers settle for inexpensive luxuries - is not holding up. Lipstick sales are down 11%. But eye makeup has replaced lipstick as the indicator, so the principle is the same.

8. Later, Gator. Alligator farmers are not selling skins to luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, simply because of a lack of demand.

9. Dry Cleaning Dried Up. Many customers leave their clothes at home longer, until they can afford to pay for them to be cleaned. And they are visiting less often, too.

10. Stagnant pools=mosquito bites. The enormous numbers of foreclosed or abandoned homes have vacant swimming pools and unattended ponds. The stagnant waters - known as green pools - are a hotbed for mosquito breeding. Some residents can’t afford to tend to them any longer if they are still living there.

We wouldn’t bank on sales of romance novels to tell us where the economy is going, but it’s fun to watch these things and find potential correlations. All in all, though, we’ll stick to watching the trend lines instead. What economic indicators have you seen?

Visit our trend following category for more stories on the 200-day moving average. Stop by our forums to talk about the strange things you’ve noticed in this economy.

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