Inventories...

This Washington Post article is important from a macro sense. Inventories are a good, albeit imperfect, indicator of what is going on. Build-ups in inventory indicate either rapid increases in production or falloff in demand. Well, I think we can eliminate the increases in production right now... So, that leaves us with a falloff in demand. I know...we knew that. I bring it to attention here as a key variable to watch. As inventories get drawn down, it will entice producers to begin producing again. So watching inventories in the near term may tell us something about directions of change in other variables such as employment...