In Other News: Keeping up with the World
Some interesting tools you can use to stay updated with the markets
A quick introduction before we begin: You will hear from us every Monday and Friday at 9 am on the dot. The newsletter has 2 segments- one covers all things personal finance and the other is a miscellaneous (read: chaotic) college-related collective. Monday’s newsletter, titled ‘Our two cents’, is dedicated to personal finance and this is where we divulge our college-centric take on the subject of saving, budgeting, investing, and the like. Friday’s newsletter, titled ‘In other news’, covers just about everything else- from research papers to student loans to so much more. And with that out of the way….
Hi there! Top of the morning to you. It’s that time of the week again. In today’s edition, we talk about some interesting and interactive tools/websites you can use to stay updated with the markets. Without further ado, let’s dive into it.
📨 A little context
A couple of days back, one of our professors mentioned that having the ability to connect different pieces of information together to make sense of the whole world is a very important skill to have and this stuck with us. Well, it makes sense. I could read the news every day and still not be able to connect the dots because more often than not, standalone figures or numbers don’t make much sense or don’t convey how they affect us. So, today we want to cover some tools and sites that provide statistics and data at a glance and sites that offer more stimulating insights into how data impacts us.
🔍 The focus
Let’s start with resources that provide data in an interactive visual format.
Mint Macro Tracker:
Mint developed a macro tracker in 2018 which provides a monthly comprehensive report on the state of the economy, based on the trends in 16 high-frequency economic indicators. It provides an analysis of how the Indian economy has fared as compared to the last month in terms of inflation, job outlook, wage growth, exchange rates, and 12 other indicators. The values are color-coded (red, amber, and green) to denote where it lies relative to the five-year average. This is a very insightful monthly read on how the Indian economy is performing.
Link: https://images.livemint.com/plain-facts/2019/12/macrotracker/newdashboard.html
For the latest charts (search for ‘latest mint macro tracker’ to get the latest update every month): https://www.livemint.com/economy/highfrequency-indicators-deteriorate-again-in-march-11682605832418.html
RBI Marketwatch and Trading Economics:
The best way to get data on the Indian economy is to go through RBI’s marketwatch. The charts on this database will help you understand patterns and trends in the economy. If you are looking for trends in different countries then Trading Economics is a savior.
Going over these trends periodically can help you make a lot of decisions in your personal and professional life. Let me explain how. Economic indicators are mostly divided into leading and lagging indicators. Lagging indicators like inflation or unemployment rate change after the economy has changed and are used to determine the after-effects of the shift in the economy. Whereas leading indicators change before the change in the economy. Leading indicators serve as a red flag for upcoming market disruption. For instance, consumer confidence index measures the level of optimism or pessimism consumers have about the economy and their financial situation. It can provide insights into consumer spending behaviour. This could serve as a red flag on where the economy is headed - Are people spending more? What are they demanding? What goods can we expect to become costlier?
Link for RBI Marketwatch: https://dbie.rbi.org.in/DBIE/dbie.rbi?site=NewChartFormat
Link for Trading Economics: https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/indicators
MarketWatch:
Another site that can help you make smarter and more informed decisions is MarketWatch. It keeps a close watch on market developments, particularly the US economic calendar and Fed actions. You could also use the personal finance tab on the site to get advice on financial planning and investing. Additionally, you can create your customised watchlist for free to get information about everything you need in one place.
Link: https://www.marketwatch.com/welcome-watchlist?mod=top_nav
That’s about it for tools that can be helpful to stay updated with authentic and credible economic data. If you wish to read some insightful and thought-provoking articles on markets, you can check out the following:
JP Morgan Market Insights: JP Morgan also releases an investment outlook at the start of every year which is a great read to know the market outlook from experts.
Morgan Stanley Research: Morgan Stanley provides research reports and analysis on global markets, economics, and investment strategies, along with insights on emerging trends and risks.
That’s it for today. We have tried to cover some of the resources we have widely used during our college life. These insights and data come in really handy during competitions and interviews and surprisingly even during day-to-day conversations. Hope you enjoy reading them! :)
👋🏻 Bye-bye
………Aaand that’s a wrap. See you Monday :) Of course, we can correspond earlier if you liked the ‘did you know’ format and have a couple other topics you’d like for us to cover in the coming weeks. Feel free to use the comment section or write to us at witmeup.in@gmail.com. Alternatively, you can anonymously provide your valuable feedback here. Thanks, and toodles!