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.

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S&P; 500 (blue-chip stocks), Friday: 1,062.75

200-day moving average, Friday: 1,052.05

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Russell 2,000 index (smaller stocks), Friday: 402.79

200-day moving average, Friday: 448.82

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Price-to-earnings ratio of Standard & Poor’s 500: 23.41*

Based on operating earnings per share, 12 months ended March 31; average since 1923: 13.5

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Dividend yield of the Standard & Poor’s 500: 1.52%

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

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Weekly new highs vs. new lows on the NYSE: 84/708

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

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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.

August 7

Bullish: 50.0%

Bearish: 27.6

Correction: 22.4

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Friday

Bullish: 43.4%

Bearish: 31.9

Correction: 24.7

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Put-call ratio: 0.54

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.