Some companies tell you a lot about the state of the economy. Three of those companies -- industrial supplier MSC Industrial (NYSE: MSM), banking giant Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), and appliance stalwart (NYSE: WHR) -- will give earnings in January. Here's why what they say is so vital to monitoring the economy and how you invest in 2024.

This company distributes metalworking and maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) products and services. As such, it's not hard to see how its sales growth figures reveal a crucial insight into manufacturing conditions in the U.S. Moreover, its sales are highly sensitive to cyclical changes in U.S. manufacturing.

That's why investors were worried to hear CEO Erik Gershwind's talk of sales stepping down sequentially in September. The step down was "indicative of further softening ... as companies and consumers deal with the effects of sustained higher interest rates and recessionary fears," according to Gershwind on the company's earnings call in October.

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Source Fool.com