The Independent Market Observer

12/11/12 - Interesting Things to Read

Posted by Brad McMillan, CFA®, CFP®

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This entry was posted on Dec 11, 2012 12:11:51 PM

and tagged Market Updates, On My Bookshelf

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Just a quick note regarding some of the more interesting things I have read recently.

As you can probably imagine, I see quite a few publications every week. Most are regular reads, but occasionally something unusual and interesting comes in. Here are two that you might want to take a look at.

Rail Time Indicators: This monthly publication from the Association of American Railroads is an excellent overview of many components of the U.S. economy. Quite a bit of it is a lot more granular than the average reader would want; however, each section has a What is it and why is it important? explanation. For the lay reader, this provides a tremendous amount of information. Rail Time Indicators has been free, but it will be a subscription service starting in February. Worth a look before then.

Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds: Issued by the U.S. National Intelligence Council every four years, this report attempts to identify critical trends and changes in the world and what they will mean in the next couple decades. As a way to get a handle on what will change in the world at large, it offers a challenging set of viewpoints that will make you think. There have already been two articles in the press on the material presented here—in both the New York Times and the Financial Times today—but if you have some time, the original is worth your while.


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