Trading Economics: A Guide to Economic Statistics for Practitioners and Students

In the wake of an unprecedented financial crisis, of a magnitude not seen for almost 100 years, understanding how key economic and market statistics drive financial market trends is vital for students, traders and market practitioners. Global economics has encountered a seismic shift. In the UK, 16 years of uninterrupted growth ended in double–dip recession. The US encountered its biggest ever recession. Emergent economies are jostling to join the top rank and we are witnessing the rise of alternative financial centres and a new global financial market landscape. These trends are leading to rapid and unprecedented change. New technology is making markets more accessible and transparent and investment decisions are instantly reflected in market pricing, creating scope for greater market volatility. Many of these decisions are made on a data driven, statistics based materiality. Unfolding news, as reflected in economic and market data, is leading to a greater need to understand these figures, and what different interpretations can mean for investable assets. Trading Economics: A Guide to the Use of Economic Statistics for Traders and Practitioners cuts through the economic and market noise, delivering a clear view of how statistics interact to create and demonstrate economic trends and movements. Of equal value to market traders and practitioners, financiers, government officials, financial journalists, economics and business students as to the interested observer, the book is presented in an easy to reference layout, using language that eschews jargon. It provides a unique insight into the statistics that have an impact on global financial markets and offers a hands on guide for those who want to understand how financial statistics work, and how to profit from them in the widest sense.

Trevor Williams joined Lloyds Banking Group from the UK Civil Service after doing some lecturing. Trevor is currently the Chief Economist at Lloyds Bank, Commercial Banking. He regularly writes articles for publications and appears in the financial press and on television to represent economic views. Trevor is a member of the Institute for Economic Affairs Shadow Monetary Policy Committee, made up of City economists and academics. This is the oldest ‘shadow’ MPC, set up two months after the official MPC began in 1997. He is a visiting Professor, Banking and Finance, Derby University. Victoria Turton graduated from the universities of Sheffield and Manchester with degrees in History before joining the Bank of Scotland Corporate. She is currently a Senior Copywriter at Editions Financial as well as a freelance writer and editor. She lives in North Yorkshire and is married with two sons.