what s more the magnitude of changes in capital goods new orders might not bear any consistent relationship with the size of changes in gdp making it inaccurate except as an indicator of timing therefore this indicator would be useful as a long term warning sign but it would not support a precise estimate of the timing or size of future trends 
on the other hand a leading indicator might give highly accurate and precise information about a turning point or trend in the market or the economy but only over a few months or quarters such an indicator could provide detailed input for estimating the trends that affect your business or investments but it might not provide that information in sufficient time to take full advantage of the insight gained by themselves both types of leading indicators might be helpful yet neither provides the full picture needed to maximize performance in practice this means that using a range of different leading indicators that are more or less accurate precise and forward looking can provide the best opportunity to capitalize on future trends while leading indicators can provide insight into the advisability of taking actions as a government a business or an investor they have nothing to do with the impact that results from taking those actions leading indicators vs lagging indicatorsleading indicators are used to predict future economic performance lagging indicators are data that reflect past economic performance they re used to confirm economic change and financial market patterns 