There are many items that influence the day-to-day moves in a stock, bond, or commodity's price — earnings news, corporate financials, simple supply and demand, and a whole lot more. Heck, I've even read an academic study that argued the weather has a huge influence on whether markets close up or down!

But when it comes to figuring out the bigger-picture, longer-term moves for whole investment classes, there's nothing better than watching a few key economic indicators.

And since this week is going to be a very busy one for data releases, I wanted to spend a little time today talking about the most important indicators you should pay attention to, along with an update on where those items currently stand right now.

Let's start with one that will be coming out this Friday and is sure to make a big splash ...

U.S. Employment Numbers from
The Bureau of Labor Statistics

While weekly unemployment claims are somewhat important to the markets, the major employment dipstick is what we get from the BLS every month.

.....read full article HERE.