This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Leading indicators, such as the S&P 500 and building permits, are forward-looking and aim to predict the economy's future direction. - Lagging indicators, including the CPI and GDP, confirm economic trends after they have already taken place. - A critical Series 65 exam trap is the distinction between 'initial unemployment claims' (a leading indicator) and the 'average duration of unemployment' (a lagging indicator). - The stock market is considered a primary leading indicator because it reflects investor expectations of future corporate earnings and economic activity. - GDP is tested as a lagging indicator because it reports on economic output for a quarter that has already concluded. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep