Disagree with me? I didn't make this up but am happy to contribute to your remedial education on investing 101.

LEADING INDICATOR

An economic indicator that changes before the economy has changed. Examples of leading indicators include production workweek, building permits, unemployment insurance claims, money supply, inventory changes, and stock prices. The Fed watches many of these indicators as it decides what to do about interest rates. There are also coincident indicators, which change about the same time as the overall economy, and lagging indicators, which change after the overall economy, but these are of minimal use as predictive tools.
http://www.investorwords.com/2741/leadin...

LAGGING INDCIATOR

An economic indicator that changes after the overall economy has changed; examples include labor costs, business spending, the unemployment rate, the prime rate, outstanding bank loans, and inventory book value.

http://www.investorwords.com/2713/laggin...