[this just in from a SpikeTrade Member in Australia – Alex]

There has been much talk over the last few months about a pullback on the S&P. It might be wise to keep one eye on the Baltic dry Index. Should it break the trend line; the pullback might become a fall back.

Baltic Index

The Baltic Dry Index (BDI) is a daily average of prices to ship raw materials. It represents the cost paid by an end customer to have a shipping company transport raw materials across seas on the Baltic Exchange, the global marketplace for brokering shipping contracts. The BDI acts as a leading economic indicator.

More information can be found at: wiki

Notice the BDI bottomed several months ahead of the stock market (march 2009 bottom), and then picked up strength. At the time of writing the BDI was at 3005, with support at 2700. Should support not hold, then all bets are off in the equity markets.

Roger