The general leading indicator approach, commonly applied to the national economy, can also be used to analyze major sectors of the economy. Given the considerable importance of the financial services industry, also known as FIRE (Finance, Insurnace and Real Estate), a system of leading and...

The spread between yields on corporate bonds of differing quality is one of the most important measures of the aggregate level of credit risk in the economy and has been widely used as an indicator of overall economic activity and of stock prices. It has also assumed considerable importance in...