The Baltic Dry Index may not mean much to people but it's an economic indicator - free of the politically influenced indicator from either the European Central Bank or the Federal Reserve  - that talks about shipping Dry goods and commodities around the world.

In recent weeks, the Baltic Index has fallen off a cliff, plummeting from almost 2,200 in mid October to just about 641 on February 6th, 2012.  This is usually taken as a sign of decreased economic activity.

ZeroHedge.com notes that shippers are now paying people - going negative - to keep their ships active.