Macro is made up of multiple factors that push, pull, and shove asset prices in different directions all at the same time.

We've compiled the most important macro charts and organized them into 5 easy-to-digest categories, so you can see which direction the macro landscape is pushing asset prices (up, down, or sideways):

Financial Conditions

“Financial Conditions” is a broad term that is generally a measure of how easy or hard it is for money to flow through the economy. “Loose”, or “easy”, financial conditions means that money is cheap and plentiful, and this generally encourages risk-taking, borrowing and spending. “Tight”, or “hard”, financial conditions means that money is expensive or harder to obtain, and this generally leads to reduced risk-taking, borrowing and spending.

Economic data

This page shows a number of gauges of economic growth. Risk assets tend to perform well when growth is rising, or accelerating - and perform poorly when growth is falling, or decelerating.

Inflation

Inflation is an important component of pricing in financial markets. Rising inflation can be a positive factor for risk assets, because it may signal strong growth - but inflation rising too high, or too fast, can be a negative factor for risk assets, because it may signal an “overheating economy” and may lead to a more hawkish central bank stance. Falling inflation can be a negative factor for risk assets, because it may signal weakening growth - but inflation falling can also be a positive factor for risk assets, because it may lead to a more dovish central bank stance. The wider environment is important to consider when looking at inflation, along with the speed of the change in inflation.

Labor Market

The labor market is another important component of pricing in financial markets. A strong labor market is often a sign of a strong economy. While a weakening labor market is generally a sign of a weakening economy. But this is not always strictly true. It can be the case that an economy can be growing strongly, even with a weakening labor market. A weakening labor market may spur the central bank to take a more dovish (think: positive) stance and start pushing fresh cash into the economy (floating asset prices.) While a strong (over-heated) labor market may spur the central bank to take a more hawkish (think: negative) stance and begin trying to slow the economy (hurting asset prices.)

Sentiment

Sentiment is a powerful measure to watch. It can often be a contrarian signal. When sentiment measures show investors at an extreme level of greed or fear - it can often be a good idea to bet against the crowd.

By understanding these 5 categories you can get an idea of which way the market is heading.