The intricate issue of detecting and forecasting macroeconomic cycles turning points has been once more perfectly illustrated with the global downturn experienced by most countries around the world in 2000-2001. Governments and Central Banks are very sensitive to economic indicators showing signs of deterioration in order to adjust their policies sufficiently in advance to avoid further deterioration or even a recession. These indicators require at least two qualities: they must be reliable and they must provide a readable signal as soon as possible. In this paper, we discuss ...