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.

One of the BloggingStocks editors recently instant messaged me and said, "You know, I think technical analysis is bull." I've heard this opinion very frequently, and I've even held this opinion in the past. But from watching stocks for several years I've seen certain price moves that seem to occur again and again. Sure enough, these movements are some of the most fundamental elements of technical analysis; for example, support, resistance, uptrend, etc. I've seen many people who don't know any technical analysis but reference a stock's breakout on its "graph" -- just from watching stocks trade, they have realized this is often a sign of future profits to come.

As I began studying technical analysis more frequently, I learned more about the skill -- moving averages, indicators, oscillators, and so on. Many of these tools, in my opinion, do in fact have predictive value in the stock market. More importantly, these tools allow traders to more effectively and systematically (therefore, less emotionally) manage their money.

All this being said, I think the editor was right in one regard -- I have a lot of trouble believing in patterns (e.g., "Head and Shoulders") because I think that many of these are way too objective when it comes to trading. I also find that they are harder to explain than many other tenets of technical analysis, such as support and resistance.

I've been on all sides of the technical analysis argument -- extraordinarily against, emotionally for, and everything in between. As it stands now, I feel like it's just another tool in the toolbox for a trader and there's no reason not to consider it.

It is no coincidence the Fed changed its language last week from concerns about inflation picking up to a neutral stance on prices. From looking at the chart below, when the downward slope of the economic leading indicators has been this steep, it has meant a meaningful slowdown is on the horizon.

Mr. Bernanke is very aware of this chart. The question is how proactive he wants to be. Greenspan never would have stopped raising rates when Bernanke did -- a very bold move for the relatively new Fed Chairman. A bolder move would be to lower rates at the next meeting and forgo a recession.