Stock Market Barometers

Fundamental and technical indicators of the market’s health

Key indexes vs. their 200-day moving averages:

A stock index’s 200-day moving average indicates the basic trend, up or down. It is generally bullish if the index stays above the average.

S&P; 500 (blue-chip stocks)

Thursday: 1,146.42

200-day moving average: 1,025

*

Russell 2,000 index (smaller stocks)

Thursday: 458.31

200-day moving average: 451.53

*

Price-to-earnings ratio of Standard & Poor’s 500: 25.25*

Based on operating earnings per share, 12 months ended March 31;

average since 1923: 13.5

*

Dividend yield of the Standard & Poor’s 500: 1.40%

Average dividend yield of blue-chip stocks; avg. since 1923: 4.5%

*

Weekly new highs vs. new lows on the NYSE: 293/215

Data for the week ended Friday. More highs indicate a bullish trend.

*

Investment newsletter sentiment:

*--*

June 26 Thursday Bullish: 42.9% 44.9% Bearish: 31.9 31.4 Correction: 25.2 23.7

*--*

Stocks’ near-term trend as predicted by 135 independent investment newsletters, weekly survey by Investors Intelligence. The data are often viewed as a contrarian indicator: A rising percentage of bulls can signal a topping market.

*

Put-call ratio: 0.43

The ratio of stock put options to call options traded last week on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. A low put-call ratio--under 0.40--can be construed as bearish because it indicates a high level of optimism, leaving a lot of room for disappointment.

* Now calculated based on operating earnings, which exclude one-time charges--so P/E is lower than if actual earnings were used.

Source: A.G. Edwards & Sons. More information can be found at https://www.agedwards.com on the World Wide Web.