It seems that a ton of people are betting on this. I heard that funds like pimco have tons of corporate contacts so they can check how things are going in real-time. Buffett can do that too. Does anyone here knows if this is really happening and how big it is?
What you're "asking" is the same way that GS, MS, JPM et al are able to "know" the durable goods report before it is released too.
"Does anyone have inside data on how the Q3 inventory built is going?" No. GS doesn't inform the gov't what the number is for several weeks.
I can only tell you what Credit Suisse is telling about Swiss companies : sluggish. But there are some "value chain research" comapnies out there who can provide you with some information like : For technology related issues : http://www.isuppli.com/Pages/home.aspx Auto industry / car dealers : http://www.nada.org/ Engineering: http://www.nspe.org/index.html Chemical industry : http://www.icis.com/home/default.aspx