My newest article in my American Consequences Magazine - click the link for the entire piece 👍

In 1744, merchants and ship captains traded news on Threadneedle Street in London…

They gathered inside coffeehouses to discuss everything from politics… to yellow fever… to the cost of moving goods from point A to point B.

At the Virginia and Baltick coffeehouse specifically, merchants spent time dissecting shipping markets… figuring out capacity and how much dry cargo had to be transported.

The information shared in these coffeehouses (which were more appropriate for business meetings than neighboring alehouses) offered a new level of transparency in the shipping industry…

It also provided insight on the overall direction of markets and the economy.

By 1823, as England’s trading network grew, Virginia and Baltick patrons decided to institutionalize their knowledge and create rules around shipping contracts… That’s how the “Baltic Exchange” was born.

Originally a private company that tracked shipping rates, the Baltic Exchange went on to create one of the most fascinating, yet fairly obscure, economic indicators: the Baltic Exchange Dry Index.

This index provides real-time maritime shipping information to traders looking to settle shipping contracts… It also winds up revealing broader economic trends.

If you haven’t heard of the Baltic Dry Index, now is the time to get acquainted with it.

That’s because, today, this index is signaling an economic slowdown.

As investors, that means we’ll need to carefully evaluate our positions and prepare for continued market volatility. https://americanconsequences.com/trish-regan-this-obscure-economic-indicator-is-now-flashing-recession/