Cardboard Box Index

An index used by some investors to gauge industrial production by using the output of cardboard boxes to predict the purchases of non-durable consumer goods.

This is considered to be a relatively good measure. It is estimated that nearly 75 to 80 percent of all non-durable goods are shipped in corrugated containers. Therefore, the greater the amount of cardboard boxes being made, the greater the amount of cash being invested by companies to produce goods.