Click on any of the numbers above to be directed to Column Heading Descriptions.

The Option Stock Surveillance feature of THE PUT & CALL TACTICIAN provides technial data on most option stocks.
The listing is arranged by industry to allow easier stock and market analysis within groups.

1. Power Index	Displays, in a single value, a stock's current technical posture. Zero is neutral. Positive values show proportionately greater strength than average. Negative values show proportionate weakness. The majority of stocks will have values between minus 6 and plus 6.

2 - 4. Grade (S/I/L)	In this column, three measures of an option stock's relative strength (similar to grading students in the classroom) are given. This type of grading is based on the popular probability distribution known as the normal of "bell shaped" curve. When this grading approach is used, usually 10% of the students receive A's, 20% receive B's, 40% receive C's, 20% receive D's, and 10% receive F's. Students know at a glance where they stand relative to the group. THE PUT AND CALL TACTICIAN grades option stocks in a similar manner. The letters "S", "I", and "L" in the column heading correspond to short, intermediate, and long term relative strength values of option stocks to convey the stock's short-term (most recent 1-2 weeks), intermediate-term (most recent 2-6 week), and long-term (last 6 months) historical relative strength values. For example, a stock which grades "B/A/F" displays good short-term historical relative strength (shown by the "B"), and very poor long-term historical relative strength (shown by the "F"). This communicates the story of a stock changing character, and in this case, the trend is one of improvement. Another use of the letter grades is to indicate long term buy and sell points for stocks. Long term investors should be buying A 's and B 's, and selling D 's and F 's, in conjunction with the numeric component of the Power Index. Sell on a decreasing numeric trend and buy on an increasing numeric trend. For example, a stock that is carrying a grade of A or B offers a long term buy signal when the numeric component of the Power Index begins rising after making a trough. Conversely, a stock with a grade of D or F should be sold when the numeric component of the Power Index begins trending downward after a peak.
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5. SYM BOL	Ticker symbol for stock.

6. EX	Exchange where the options are traded.
	"A" = American; "C" = Chicago; "P" = Pacific; "X" = Philadelphia;

7. CY	Cycle of options offered
	"J" = January/April/July/October "F" = February/May/August/November "M" = March/June/September/December
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8. CUR PRICE	Current price of stock at close of market Thursday

9. PCT CHG	Percentage of change in price since a month ago.

10. SUP PRT	Support, price-wise for the stock. Applicable only for stocks with a technical code of 1, 2, and 4.

11. RES TCE	Price resistance for the stock, if it exists. Applicable only for stocks with a technical code of 2, 3, and 4.

12. VL TY	Volatility of the underlying stock. A value of 35 is average. This estimate of future relative price action is used in the calculation of a stock's trading increment.

13. PERCENT 50-DAY AVERAGE	The stock's current price as a percentage of its current 50-day average price. This indicates if a stock is overbought or oversold. A value above 120 usually indicates an overbought stock, and a value less than 80 indicates and oversold condition.
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14. TECHNICAL CODE	Conveys via "1, 2, 3, and 4, a stocks chart pattern. 1's are in upward trends and have the greatest upside potential. 2's are in upward trends, but are temporarily leveling or pulling back. 3's are in downward trends and have the greatest downside potential. 4's are in downward trends, but temporarily improved.

Viewing the codes in a 4 quadrant format, their relationship and the manner in which a stock or group of stock cycles through the four codes becomes more apparent. As the figure shows, stocks generally rotate counter-clock-wise through the codes. This is depicted by the circular center arrow. wpe1.gif (4699 bytes)

Option stocks coded 1 and 2 are in uptrends and codes 3 and 4 are in downtrends. The heavy horizontal line between the two code groupings in the figure bisects the uptrending stocks (upper two quadrants) and downtrending stocks (lower two quadrants).

Uptrending stocks tend to oscillate between code 1 and 2 status as arrow "A" shows. When a code 2 stock moves to code 1, it is labeled "Re-established-Buy", one of the PUT & CALL TACTICIAN'S strongest buy signals.

Downtrending stocks in the lower two quadrants (code 3 and 4) tend to oscillate between the quadrants as arrow "B" shows. Code 4 stocks moving to code 3 status are labeled "Reconfirmed Sell", one of our strongest sell signals.

Stocks move between the upper and lower planes in a manner shown by arrows "C" and "D". When large numbers of stocks make code 4 to code 1 moves (arrow "C"), or code 2 to code 3 moves (arrow "D"), this signals - with a high possibility - that a change in intermediates market direction has taken place.

The coded bar graph at the bottom of Page 2 weekly shows the portion of stocks in each of our four technical code categories. This graph and the lead and lag market lines are primary tools to forecast market direction. This data is translated into easy-to-interpret Market Condition Codes on each telephone Hotline update.


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									September 5, 2008