One of the most reliable economic indicators in the world is bad news for all the major markets

One of the most reliable indicators of the global economy continues to confirm fears of a global slowdown.

South Korean exports - also called "economic canary" in the world - fell 13.8 percent in December from a year earlier.

This was another worsening decline declined in November by 4.8% and this is much worse than economists' forecast of a decline of 11.7%.

Exports Korea usually reveals more global trading partners than it does about what is happening inside.

"Exports to all major markets fell," according to the observations of Wai Ho Leong and Angela Hsieh of Barclays. "We believe that the main trend of the challenging external environment will most likely continue in 2016."

This report is the first monthly set of hard economic numbers - unlike soft sentiment-based reports such as PMI's main economy.

So Korean exports has the potential to be a warning sign. Similarly, miners took canaries with them down into the mines to monitor greenhouse gases. If the levels of harmful gases such as carbon monoxide increase, the canary would die for miners signaling that it is time to get away.

E.Dimitrov JrTrader