How Dry is Your Baltic Index?

At the time of this writing, the Dow is hovering around seventeen thousand. Things have got to be great, right?

One might wonder at the contrast between the stock market's record high and the wretched financial circumstances of many people. Certainly, the over all economy is prospering, and we can all benefit by the trickling down of this amazing wealth, can't we?

I am a babe in economic matters, but I have found an indicator that does not suffer from the manipulated illusions of the Dow. It is not mentioned in the evening news, though you may be familiar with it. I am new to this game, but I do like to get the facts, so I refer to the Baltic Dry Index for realistic information on how the world's trade is doing.

While the markets zoom upwards, this index shows a totally different trend through the record of goods shipped. Since the beginning of this year, the Baltic Dry index has declined by over half. The video linked below has more information.

See Realist News - 300 year old shipping company closes its door. Baltic Dry index collapsing.