FIX: Frugality Index

You often hear the Bobbleheads talk about how Oil and Copper are the leading indicators into the economy. Oil being the leading speculative indicator and Copper being the barometer. If this is truly the case, then we are back to happy days again (riiiiiiiiight)... Actually, copper is a very good indicator, but the action recently is nothing more than a technical move on the back of China's Economic Facade.

Imho, the action in most commodities right now is a lot of noise and little signal. I periodically check in on Live Cattle to see if people have traded the Spam for Filet Mignons again. When people start to feel better, consumer confidence goes up. When people start to DO better, they eat better. So just how have the prices of Live Cattle been with green shoots, higher equities and booming commodities? About -12% from Jan 1 - Jun 1. The rest of the fleet is up 50+% in the same time.

I would like to see a sustained trend change before joining the recovery bandwagon. Oil and Copper have their merits as far as economic indicators go, but Cattle is also a valuable guage to add to your arsenal.

Someone could make the argument this is a result of the rising popularity in Vegetarianism. If this is truly the case, where can I find Lettuce futures? ALL IN