For more than a century, Wall Street has been a generational wealth-building machine. Although housing, gold, oil, and bonds have all increased in value, the annualized returns offered by stocks runs circles around these other asset classes over extended periods.

But going from Point A to B on Wall Street doesn't occur in a straight line. It typically involves stock market corrections and bear markets along the way. Since this decade began, the ageless Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJINDICES: ^DJI), widely followed S 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), and growth-centric Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) have danced between bull and bear markets.

When volatility arises, investors will often seek out economic data and predictive indicators to get a better bead on which direction the Dow, S 500, and Nasdaq Composite will head next. Although there isn't a foolproof indicator that can, with 100% accuracy, make this call, there are a small assortment of datapoints and predictive tools with exceptionally strong track records.

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Source Fool.com