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), Friday: 984.39

200-day moving average, Friday: 1067.32

*

Russell 2,000 index (smaller stocks), Friday: 318.40

200-day moving average, Friday: 435.26

*

Price-to-earnings ratio of Standard & Poor’s 500: 21.68*

Based on operating earnings per share, 12 months ended June 30;

average since 1923: 13.5

*

Dividend yield of the Standard & Poor’s 500: 1.65%

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

*

Weekly new highs vs. new lows on the NYSE:182/1,196

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

*

Investment newsletter sentiment:

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.

Oct. 2

Bullish: 37.6%

Bearish: 44.4

Correction: 18.0

*

Friday

Bullish: 38.5%

Bearish: 42.7

Correction: 18.8

*

Put-call ratio: 0.66

The ratio of stock put options to call options traded last week on the Chicago Board Options Exchange. Ironically, 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.