The wealth of information that can ...

The wealth of information that can be constru from construction permits is probably the best-kept mysterious in our industry. Permits are a highly accurate measure of the direction that construction spending wilt take above the coming six months to a year -- since permits are typically issued that far in advance of actual spending.

Moreover, permits are available for extremely detailed types of construction activities (industrial construction, office, retail, etc) and for actual detailed geographic areas (down to the metropolitan area plain -- the PMSA, for those who are literate in the