Ted Allrich is the founder of The Online Investor and author of: Comfort Zone Investing: Build Wealth And Sleep Well At Night. In this weekly column, he'll offer advice to investors who are just getting started.

Bellwether stocks are industry leaders, the biggest and usually, but not always, the best. Investors watch them to get a sense of where that particular industry, or in some cases, the economy is going. Some bellwethers are portfolio anchors while others are good indicators but not necessarily the best stocks to own. Here are some to know.

For a broad economic indicator, watch General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). This company is so large and involved in almost every aspect of the economy that it gives a good reading on how the economy is doing. It finances houses, builds jet engines, sells light bulbs, owns NBC Universal, manufactures major household appliances and consumer electronics, has electrical distribution, generates energy from coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear energy, water and wind technologies, supplies railroad locomotives and management technologies, offers security systems, has water treatment and wastewater treatment, provides healthcare with medical technologies and services such as medical imaging. There isn't much GE doesn't touch in our daily lives. While GE's stock has been in a rather tight trading range (it did break up to $42 a share late last year, but then retreated), it's worth watching as an indicator for the pulse of the U.S. economy. The stock's price has been decidedly down for the last six months.