Level of a diffusion index based on surveyed investors and analysts. Above 0.0 indicates optimism, below indicates pessimism. This is a survey of about 2,800 investors and analysts which asks respondents to rate the relative 6-month economic outlook for the Eurozone.
 

Measures the total change in orders placed at domestic manufacturers. The figure gives a picture of the strength of demand for German industrial products. Factory orders are an early indicator of the overall level of spending in the economy, and spending drives economic growth. Although higher German Factory Orders alone is not a strong enough factor to influence the value of Euro in a significant way, growth in orders can put upward pressure on the Euro if higher orders are due to greater demand aboard.

German Factory Orders is a seasonally adjusted index. The headline figure is expressed as a percentage change in the index.

A monthly measure of the change in purchases by corporate executives. One hundred and seventy-five managers distributed among different regions and sectors are asked: "Are your purchases higher, the same, or lower than the previous month" A headline value above 50 indicates an increase in purchases from the previous month and a value below 50 indicates a decrease.

The PMI can be used to measure business optimism and forecast economic growth. Business firms increase purchases and spending in response to growing demand for their goods and services, a high PMI suggests overall expectation for an expanding economy. Furthermore, if businesses are optimistic of future economic conditions they will increase spending now in order to prepare for future demand in their goods and services.

Note : The Institute of Supply Management publishes a similar index known as the "Reports on Business" for the United States . Unlike the Canadian PMI, the Reports on Businesses uses mid-month data, adjusts for seasonality, and asks a combination of five questions. As a result, the Canadian PMI tends to have larger month to month movements than the U.S. version.

An indicator of how the average level of pay is changing. The Average Hourly Earnings figure provides insight into future spending and inflation. A High Average Hourly Earnings bodes well for future consumption, as workers have more disposable income. High figures may indicate inflationary pressures due to employee's additional potential to spend. The figure is either measured in hourly or weekly averages or as a percent change from the previous month.

Tracks monthly developments in the Australian construction sector.

Measures the current economic activity based on a composite of indicators that track current business conditions in Japan . The headline number is derived by comparing the number of expanding indicators to the total number of indicators used. A headline number reading of 50% means that half of the available indicators are expanding.

Included in the index are; the expansion or contraction of industrial production, capacity utilization, retail and wholesale sales, power consumption, non-scheduled work hours, the job-offer rate and operating profits.

The Index includes account inventory ratios, machinery orders, stock prices and other leading economic indicators. As the aggregate of many leading indices the Leading Economic Index provides a forecast of the future state of the domestic economy and is thought to predict activity that will occur 6-9 months after the reporting period.

The index operates on a 1-100 scale, where a value lower than 50 means that most indictors are negative and a value higher than 50 means most indicators are positive. In both cases a greater distance from the midpoint (50) means that the indicators are more strongly positive or negative.

A country's trade balance reflects the difference between exports and imports of goods and services. The trade balance is one of the biggest components of the Balance of Payment, giving valuable insight into pressures on country's currency.

Measures the per volume change in output from mining, quarrying, manufacturing, energy and construction sectors in Germany . Industrial production is significant as a short term indicator of the strength of German industrial activity. High or rising Industrial Production figures suggest increased production and economic expansion, healthy for the Euro. However, uncontrolled levels of production and consumption can spark inflation.

The report is only a preliminary estimate figure that does not move the markets much. The figure is released in headlines as a monthly percent change.

Measures the outstanding debt held by consumers. Consumer Credit levels coincide with the economy, rising during economic expansion and dropping during a recession. Growth in Consumer Credit means that consumers have higher spending ability, which can fuel economic growth. However, too much Consumer Debt can result in an economic slowdown in the long term if consumers become overburdened with debt, then either reducing consumption or passing debt on to the financers after bankruptcy. The headline value is the outstanding debt held by consumers.

Officially called the Consumer Sentiment Index, this figure measures the level of consumer confidence and is an average of five indexes measuring different aspects of consumer fiscal health. This is one of the few indicators that are entirely expectation based. Households report their views on current buying conditions for household items and where they feel are the "wisest" places to invest savings. Views on future political policy (taxes, politicians, government) and economic conditions (wages, inflation, unemployment) are also surveyed.

Confidence figures are often leading indicators for the consumer spending and the economy as a whole. The headline figure is percentage change in the index value from that of the previous month.

The value of all outstanding loans with Japanese banks. Bank lending is important because lending increases with increased business confidence and investment. It is particularly insightful for the Japanese economy because of the weakness that has plagued the Japanese banking sector. The headline number is for total loans and discounts and is a percentage change from the previous year.

The Japanese current account balance, called the Current Account Total, summarizes the flow of goods, services, income and transfers in and out of Japan . The Current Account is more expansive than the trade balance as it also includes transfer payments, such as foreign aid, and income flows, which are the returns on investments in foreign assets. Nonetheless, the most significant component of the Japanese current account is the trade balance figure. Japan has historically had an export oriented economy and has relied on exports as the engine for overall economic expansion. Today still, trade surpluses form the foundation of consistent Japanese current account surpluses.

The Current Account is useful as a measure of net international trade flows, which directly affect currency values. A current account surplus reflects Yen flowing into Japan and this puts pressure on Yen to appreciate. On the contrary, a current account deficit means that more Yen are leaving the country from these sources, and this exerts downward pressure on the Yen.

The headline figure is the Yen-value of the Current Account.

The difference between the total value of exports and the total value of imports. A positive figure indicates a trade surplus while a negative value represents a trade deficit. Because Japan 's economy is highly export-led, trade data can give critical insight into developments in Japan 's economy and changes into foreign exchange rates.

A surplus reflects capital flowing into Japan in exchange for Japanese exports, and a deficit means that capital is flowing out of Japan as imports are purchased in larger volumes by Japanese consumers. A trade surplus will act as an appreciating weight on the Yen, whereas a trade deficit will place downward pressure on the Yen's value.

Details in the Trade Balance report itself give useful insight into changing trends regarding Japanese trade. Such developments are especially important for the country, which is an export-oriented economy that has historically experienced large trade surpluses. Any affect on this could have dramatic affect on the domestic economy.

The headline figure for trade balance is expressed in millions of Yen and usually accompanied by a year-on-year percentage change figure.

The Economy Watchers Survey asks business-cycle sensitive workers their thoughts on existing and future economic conditions, giving a detailed picture of economic trends in Japan . The survey is based on questionnaires from 'man on the street' sectors that are particularly vulnerable to business cycle turns. These segments of the economy include sectors such as retail, restaurant service, and taxi driving. With this combined data the Japanese Eco Watchers report serves as both a consumer confidence indicator and a leading indicator for the rest of the economy. The report is usually released less than two weeks after the reporting month, thus its statistics are usually very timely. The headline number is released where 50 represents the center midpoint line of boom/bust sentiment.

The percent of unemployed persons in the labor force. The labor force is the aggregate of employed and unemployed persons. The rate is released as both a seasonally adjusted and unadjusted figure. The seasonally adjusted number is a key indictor of Swiss labor market conditions, significant because of its timeliness and overall market impact.

High unemployment translates to lower average wages and reduced consumer spending. As consumer spending is the majority of total expenditure, rising unemployment often leads to slow economic growth. In addition, high or rising unemployment puts downward pressure on interest rates and leads to a depreciating Franc.

The difference between the value of exports and imports in Germany. Trade Balance is one of the biggest components of Germany 's Balance of Payment. As Germany is Europe's largest economy and given Germany's export oriented economy, trade data can give critical insight into pressures on the value of the Euro.

In order to gauge the effect of German Trade Balance on the Euro, German trade is separated into intra-Euro-zone trades and extra-Euro-zone trades. Intra-trades between Germany and Euro-zone member countries have no affect on the overall valuation of Euro. Extra-trades between Germany and other countries outside of Euro-zone do impact the overall Euro-zone trade balance. Given Germany's large share of Euro-zone exports, the figure tends to move the market upon release.

Trade surpluses reflect funds coming into Germany in exchange for goods and services. Such currency inflows may lead to a natural appreciation of a Euro, unless countered by similar capital outflows. At a bare minimum, surpluses will boost up the value of the currency.

The headline figure for trade balance is expressed in billions of Euros.

Measures changes in the prices paid by retailers for finished goods. Growth in wholesale prices usually precedes increases in retail prices, thus changes in Wholesale Prices can be used as an early indicator for inflation. While the CPI records price changes for retail goods, the WPI might pick up inflationary pressures before they reach the headline retail CPI report. The headline number is the percentage change in the index.

Note: WPI provides seasonally adjusted price changes to account for goods' seasonally volatility.

The German Current Account acts as a gauge for how Germany's economy interacts with the rest of the world. Current account is one of the three components (Financial Account, Capital Account and Current Account) that make up a country's Balance of Payments, the detailed accounting of all international interactions. Where the other side of the Balance of Payments, Capital and Financial Accounts, deals mainly with financial assets and investments, the Current Account gives a detailed breakdown of how the country intermingles with rest of the global economy on a routine, non-investment basis.

The Current Account tracks the trade balance (exports and imports for goods and services), income payments (such as interest, dividends and salaries) and unilateral transfers (aid, taxes, and one-way gifts). A positive value (current account surplus) records that the flow of capital from these components into Germany exceeds the capital leaving the country. A negative value (current account deficit) means that there is a net capital outflow from these sources. Since the German economy is by far the largest in the EU, German Current Account has significant weight on the Euro. Persistent Current Account surpluses may lead to a natural appreciation of a currency, as trade, income and transfer payments usually reflect Euros coming into the country (just as underlying deficit act as depreciating weight).

There are a number of factors that often work to diminish the impact of the Current Account release on the market. The report is not very timely, released monthly about two weeks after the reporting period. In addition, many of the components that lead to the final Current Account, such as production and trade figures, are known well in advance. Lastly, since the report reflect data for a specific reporting month, any significant developments in the Current Account should plausibly have been already felt during that month and not during the release of data. But due to the significance of German Current Account in tracking foreign exchange developments, the report has a history of moving markets upon release.

The headline number is the Current Account balance and the percentage change in the Current Account from the previous month.

Gauges demand for mortgage application in the US . Tracking new home mortgages and refinances, MBA Mortgage Applications Survey serves at a current indicator for the US housing market. Growth in mortgages suggests a healthy housing market. Due to the multiplier effect housing has on the rest of the economy, rising activity suggests increased household income and economic expansion. The headline figure is the weekly percentage change in the MBA Mortgage Applications figure.

Among the various indices measured in the survey, the purchase index and refinancing index most accurately reflect where the housing market is headed. The purchasing index measures the change in existing home sales in all mortgage applications, while the refinance index measures the mortgage refinancing activity in all mortgage applications.

Note: Due to volatility in the sector, markets also focus on the four week moving averages.

The REINZ housing price index is put together using a technique known as stratification; basically it is an average of sale prices for common groups.

The total supply of money in circulation in a given country's economy at a specific time. The primary measures of money supply include: M1, M2, and M3...

Tracks developments in the number and value of outstanding home loans in Japan. .

The total value of machinery orders placed at major manufacturers in Japan . Machine Orders is considered the best leading indicator of business capital spending, and increases are indicative of stronger business confidence and a better forward outlook. Higher capital spending is also positive for the Japanese employment situation, as companies will generally require new employees to run new machinery. The headline figure is the seasonally-adjusted month-on-month and annualized percentage change.

Measure of the money supply used by the Bank of Japan. The figure includes all currency in circulation plus all bank deposits. This indicator tends to track closely with the total money supply. The figure focuses mostly on individual deposit accounts rather than institutional accounts, making it a more attractive money indicator than broad liquidity measures.

The headline figure is the percentage change from the previous year.

Measures changes in the selling prices producers charge for goods and services, and well as tracks how prices feed through the production process. Because producers tend to pass on higher costs to consumers as higher retail prices, the PPI is valuable as an early indicator of inflation. Simply put, inflation reflects a decline in the purchasing power of the Dollar, where each dollar buys fewer goods and services. The report also gives insight into how higher prices from raw materials flow toward the final product.

A rise in PPI signals an increase in inflationary pressures. Given the economic instability associated with rising price levels, the Fed often will raise interest rates to check inflation. A low or falling PPI is indicative of declining prices, and may suggest an economic slowdown.

The headline figure is expressed in percentage change of producer price.

Notes: The PPI records prices at various stages of production: raw goods, intermediate goods and finished goods. Though intermediate and crude goods price do provide insight for future inflationary pressure, it is the price of finished goods that generates most interest for market participants. The finished goods data is able to gauge price pressure before the goods reach the retail market.

Core PPI, Excluding Food and Energy

The PPI is also reported without the volatile food and energy components. In addition to being seasonally volatile, the two comprise a significant portion of goods. As a result, any sudden disruption in oil or food supplies will significantly distort the Producer Price Index inflation assessment. By excluding such entities, Core PPI is able to provide a truer, more consistent picture of inflation trends.

Consumer confidence is a measure of popular sentiment concerning the Japanese economy. The figure is derived from a survey that asks thousands of Japanese consumers about personal expenditure patterns and inflationary expectations. In general, rising consumer confidence precedes increased consumer spending, which drives both economic growth and inflation. Even though t he Japanese economy is heavily driven by its export sector, domestic consumer confidence is an important gauge of overall economic activity and future inflationary pressures.

A headline figure above 50 shows positive consumer sentiment, while a number below 50 shows negative consumer sentiment; the greater the distance, the stronger the sentiment.

The total value of machinery orders placed at major manufacturers in Japan . Machine Orders is considered the best leading indicator of business capital spending, and increases are indicative of stronger business confidence and a better forward outlook. Higher capital spending is also positive for the Japanese employment situation, as companies will generally require new employees to run new machinery. The headline figure is the seasonally-adjusted month-on-month and annualized percentage change.

The amount of international reserves reflects the external - economic turnover and capital flows during earlier periods.