A brief look at railroad freight traffic numbers offers some tell-tale signs as to where our economy is heading. I like to review railroad loading statistics because they can give you a crystal-ball edge in guessing where the big money is leaning in the volatile economic food chain. Basically, right now the numbers are firm year over year, but the freight demographics are what I find interesting.

According to the Association of American Railroads: Total rail freight volume is up 8.9% as compared to 2006, but while container volume is up about 14%, trailer volume is down 6.2%. That indicates that for the year so far, the railroads are probably moving more imported product than domestic product.

While total carload freight (not including inter-modal) was down nearly 1% this week as compared to the same week last year, total ton-miles increased 0.3%, indicating that less freight is moving but it is traveling more miles. That is clearly due to the decreasing inventories of manufactured product, which should bode well for manufacturers in the second and third quarters. That's assuming that consumer spending maintains current levels.

Nonmetallic mineral shipments have increased nearly 20% by volume over last year. This shows strength in base chemicals, base raw materials, glass, concrete, asphalt, industrial construction, and infrastructural improvements. Metallic ore shipments are down over 50%; I believe that shows weakness most especially in steel, tin, aluminum, and copper. Lumber and wood product shipments declined nearly 25% -- no reprieve for the home building market there! Petroleum product shipments are up 9.2% year over year, and coal shipments have increased 3.1%. Here's a tip, it looks like road building and resurfacing will be a big gainer this summer!

When I had first heard about eBay Inc.'s (NASDAQ: EBAY) attempt to build an eBay branded auction platform in China I was just about screaming at my monitor, "No no no, they'll never accept you like that!!!" I knew better than to think that trying to establish an eBay branded platform would work there in any manner or fashion. The girth of my protests was documented both on eBay's discussion boards and (I believe) here on BloggingStocks comments also. Too bad Meg and crew didn't hear my pitiful whining. I could have saved them some lost time and some major bucks. Now, in a bold and somewhat clever move, eBay has purchased into a joint venture with the Chinese mobile Internet portal Tom Online Inc. (NASDAQ:TOMO). Well, better late than never!

Tom Online is a Chinese owned multimedia company that holds a leadership position in wireless Internet services. Some of the company's involvements include: wireless Internet, interactive voice response systems, online advertising, search, advanced email, gaming and entertainment. TOM Online is a subsidiary of TOM Group Limited, a leading Chinese language media group in the Greater China region. The company has a demographic focus towards the young and mobile trend seekers.

This is a move by eBay that I like.