Producer Price Index
The Producer Price Index (PPI) measures average changes in prices received by domestic producers for their output. The PPI was known as the Wholesale Price Index, or WPI, up to 1978.
Most of the data is collected through a systematic sampling of producers in manufacturing, mining, and service industries, and is published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Virtually every type of mining and manufacturing industry is currently sampled in the PPI; and a majority of service industries are sampled, with more being constantly added.
Pending Home Sales Index
The National Association of Realtors developed the pending home sales index as a leading indicator of housing activity. As such, it is a leading indicator of existing home sales, not new home sales. A pending sale is one in which a contract was signed, but not yet closed. It usually takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.
This provides a gauge of not only the demand for housing, but the economic momentum. People have to be feeling pretty comfortable and confident in their own financial position to buy a house. Furthermore, this narrow piece of data has a powerful multiplier effect through the economy, and therefore across the markets and your investments. By tracking economic data such as the pending home sales index which measures home resales, investors can gain specific investment ideas as well as broad guidance for managing a portfolio.