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"STOCK HIGH-LOW"
A 52 WEEK HIGH-LOW STOCK PRICE FORECASTING PROGRAM
USER'S MANUAL
SHAREWARE VERSION 2.0
6/3/92
INVESTMENT SOFTWARE COMPANY
P.O. BOX 20608
Houston, Texas 77225-0608
(713) 661-7981
COPYRIGHT
The STOCK HIGH-LOW software, data and user's manual are
Copyright (c) 1992 by the Investment Software Company. All
rights reserved. Neither the whole nor any part of the software,
data, and user's manual may be reproduced, transmitted,
transferred, translated or stored in any retrieval system,
without the prior written consent of the Investment Software
Company.
TRADEMARKS
STOCK HIGH-LOW is a trademark of the Investment Software
Company.
Windows and MS-DOS are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2, and PC-DOS are trademarks of International
Business Machines Corporation.
DISCLAIMER
The INVESTMENT SOFTWARE COMPANY specifically disclaims all other
warranties expressed or implied. In no event shall the
INVESTMENT SOFTWARE COMPANY be liable for any loss of profit or
any commercial damage, including but not limited too special,
incidental, consequential or other damages. The INVESTMENT
SOFTWARE COMPANY makes no claim as to the accuracy of the data
used by STOCK HIGH-LOW or to the validity of any techniques used
to project prices and make recommendations. Furthermore, the
user of STOCK HIGH-LOW shall assume all risk and responsibility
for their actions regarding the information based in or derived
from STOCK HIGH-LOW.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Summary
1.2 System Requirements
1.3 Installation & Startup
1.4 Product Overview
1.5 Product Function
1.6 General Operation
1.7 Projection Discussion
1.8 Running Under Windows 3.X
Chapter 2 The LIST VIEW
2.1 Summary
3.2 Displaying Name or Symbol
2.3 Paging Bars
2.4 Selecting Active Stock
2.5 Messages
Chapter 3 The GRAPH VIEW
3.1 Summary
3.2 Hilo Graph
3.3 Percent Change Graph
3.4 PE Ratio Graph
3.5 Plot Type Bar
3.6 Screen Mode Type Bar
3.7 Paging Bars
3.8 Projection Type Bar
3.9 Quarters Parameter Bar
3.10 Other Annotations
Chapter 4 The STATS VIEW
4.1 Summary
4.2 Projected Price, Current Price and PE Ratio
4.3 Estimated Taxes and Commissions
4.4 Historical Percent Price Changes
4.5 Projection Errors
4.6 Fixed Bracket - Variable Rate of Return Line Graph ( VROR
- Line Graph )
4.7 Gross and Net Rates of Return for the VROR Line Graph
4.8 Variable Bracket - Fixed Rate of Return Line Graph ( FROR
- Line Graph )
4.9 Gross and Net Rates of Return for the FROR Line Graph
4.10 Paging Bars
4.11 Projection Type Bar
4.12 Quarters Parameter Bar
4.13 Other Annotations
Chapter 5 The CRIT VIEW
5.1 Summary
5.2 General Operation of Selecting Criteria
5.3 High and Low Price Error Bars
5.4 PE Ratio and Current Price Bars
5.5 Last Quarter, Last Year, and Average Change Bars
5.6 Fixed Bracket Bar
5.7 Variable Rate of Return Bar
5.8 Estimated Taxes and Commissions Bar
5.9 Fixed Rate of Return Bar
5.10 Variable Bracket Bar
5.11 Criteria Function Boxes
5.12 Using The Keyboard to Change Criteria Markers
5.13 Criteria Selection Examples
Chapter 6 The PAGE VIEW
6.1 Summary
6.2 PAGE VIEW Column Header
6.3 Selecting Stocks
6.4 Paging Bars
6.5 Other Annotations
Chapter 7 The INDUSTRY VIEW
7.1 Summary
7.2 Industry Discussion
7.3 Selecting Industries
7.4 Interaction With Other Views
Chapter 8 The TAG VIEW
8.1 Summary
8.2 General Tagging Discussion
8.3 Tagging Buy Recommendations
8.4 Tagging Sell Recommendations
8.5 Tagging Set Criteria
8.6 Tagging All Stocks
Chapter 9 The PRINT VIEW
9.1 Summary
9.2 General Operation
9.3 Printer Trouble Shooting
Chapter 10 The UTIL VIEW
10.1 Summary
10.2 Printer Selection
10.3 Printer Port Selection
10.4 About STOCK HIGH-LOW
10.5 Changing Colors
10.6 Exit Program
Appendix A Hot Key Commands
Appendix B Table of Terms
CHAPTER 1
I N T R O D U C T I O N
1.1 SUMMARY
STOCK HIGH-LOW (TM) is an interactive graphical analyses program
that uses a stock's fifty-two week high and fifty-two week low
to project price trends and to make recommendations to buy or
sell based upon user selected criteria.
... Nine years of quarterly data for over 120 NYSE stocks that
are adjusted for splits.
... Data stored in RAM for fast access.
... 100% graphically based.
... 100% mouse driven.
... Graphics printing support for 6 printers.
... Gives buy, sell, or no action recommendations based upon
user selected criteria.
... Ability to tag certain stocks based on user defined
criteria.
... Ability to group stocks by one, many, or all industries
and to compare individual stocks against the industry average.
... Four price projection models.
... Interactively select industries, stocks, projection
parameters and
other user defined criteria.
... Interactively switch between the nine different views.
... Statistics view shows current price, current PE ratio,
projected prices, historic growth data, gross and net rate of
returns based on recommendations and user defined criteria,
interpretive risk features and past price projection errors.
... Compatible with Microsoft Windows version 3.X.
... Three types of selectable graphs in the GRAPH VIEW that
include a historic fifty-two week high and low price graph with
current and past projection lines, percent price range graph
with previous projections, both with the ability to
interactively change projection parameters, and a PE ratio
graph. Each graph also has the ability to split screen to
compare with the industry average.
1.2 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2, or 100% compatible.
At least 420KB of RAM available.
Microsoft compatible mouse.
EGA, VGA, or 8514 color monitor.
PC-DOS or MS-DOS 3.0 or later.
360kb, 720KB, 1.44MB or 1.2 MB floppy drive.
1.3 INSTALLATION & START UP
STOCK HIGH-LOW comes with one 3.5 inch 720KB disk or one 5.25
inch 360KB floppy disk. Each floppy disk will contain the
following files.
INSTALL.EXE Installation program.
STOCHILO.EXE Main executable program.
STOCDATA.DAT Stock data file.
STOCHILO.PDT Printer definition table.
MANUAL.TXT Manual text file.
ORDER.TXT Order information text file.
STOCHILO.ICO Windows 3.X icon.
FLOPPY DISK INSTALLATION
If you are planning to run STOCK HIGH-LOW from a floppy disk you
should make a backup copy before proceeding. Place the program
disk into drive A or B whichever is appropriate. From the DOS
prompt type "STOCHILO" to execute the program.
A:>STOCHILO enter
The program will show the introduction screen and then go into
the LIST VIEW. The first thing that needs to be done is to setup
the printer type and printer port. From the LIST VIEW point and
click the left mouse button at the F8-UTIL space which is across
the top of the screen, or press F8. From the UTIL VIEW you may
now setup the correct printer type and printer port. For
information on the UTIL VIEW see Chapter 8.
HARD DISK INSTALLATION
If you are planning to run STOCK HIGH-LOW from a hard disk you
should make a backup copy before proceeding. Place the program
disk into drive A or B whichever is appropriate. From the DOS
prompt type "INSTALL" to execute the installation program.
A:>INSTALL enter
The first screen of the installation gives you three choices;
1. Select a Path SET FOR --> XXXXX
2. Begin Installation
3. Exit Installation
They can each be selected by pressing the appropriate number.
To the far right of the "Select a Path" option is the currently
set path. Default is C:\STOCHILO. If you would like to choose
another path press "1". You then will have an option to choose
one of five different paths. After the appropriate path is
selected you may press "2" to begin installation.
The installation program will copy STOCHILO.EXE, STOCDATA.BIN,
STOCHILO.PDT, and STOCHILO.ICO to the selected path. After the
file copy screen the installation program goes into the printer
setup screen. You have three choices for this setup.
1. Select Printer SET FOR --> XXXXX
2. Select Port SET FOR --> XXXXX
3. Exit Install
To select the type of printer press "1". This will bring up a
list of printers. Use page up, page down, up arrow, and down
arrow to move through the list, when the correct printer is
highlighted press enter.
To select the correct printer port press "2". This will bring up
a list of five printer ports, choose the appropriate port by
pressing its respective number.
When the correct printer and port are installed you may press
"3" to exit and return to DOS.
From the DOS prompt type STOCHILO and press enter to execute
STOCK HIGH-LOW. For example if you installed to drive D and you
are currently on drive C, do the following to execute STOCK
HIGH-LOW.
c:>D: enter
d:>CD\STOCHILO enter
d:>\stochilo>STOCHILO enter
1.4 PRODUCT OVERVIEW
The basic structure of STOCK HIGH-LOW consists of eight
different views which can be accessed from one another by
clicking the mouse at the appropriate function. The eight basic
views and a brief description are as follows:
(1) LIST VIEW
This view consists of up to 80 stock names or stock symbols per
page with a total number of stocks of over 120 for the entire
database. A stock may be chosen by pointing and clicking the
mouse. The active stock is indicated by the surrounding
rectangle. You may then go to any other view with this stock
being the active stock. You may also page up and down between
pages. This view may also be printed if desired.
(2) GRAPH VIEW
Three graph types are available in this view. The first includes
the current, the 52 week high and the 52 week low quarterly
prices versus year and shows historical and current high low
price projections. The second is the percent change between the
52 week high and 52 week low versus year and also shows the
percent price change projection. From within these three graph
views the user may interactively switch between projection types
which include the linear type, the linear least squares type,
the moving average type, and the "smart" type. Also the user may
interactively select from the quarters bar the number of
quarters used in the selected projection type, or select the
page down and page up bars used to move to the next or preceding
stocks, or choose from a selection bar what type of graph is to
be displayed next. From the high-low graph the user may also
select the style of projection to be displayed. When new
projection parameters are selected the graphs will be
immediately updated to show the calculated projections and the
current recommendation will also be updated. The third type of
graph is the PE ratio graph. All three graph types may also be
printed if desired.
(3) STATS VIEW
The statistics view shows current price, current PE ratio,
projected prices, historic growth data, gross and net rate of
returns based on recommendations and user defined criteria,
interpretive risk features and past price projection errors. In
addition there are two graphical analyses tools. These are
psuedo-risk features. They are line charts that show the current
price, the projected high and low for the next year, and the
risked price projections based on percentages within the
projections or the rate of return within the calculated
projections. From within this view the user may interactively
switch between projection types, the linear type, the linear
least squares type, the moving average type, and the "smart"
type. Also the user may interactively select from the quarters
bar the quarters used in the selected projection type. When the
projection parameters are changed, the two line graphs are
updated along with several other numerical values and the
current recommendation. Paging bars are used to move to the next
or preceding stocks respectively. This view may also be printed
if desired.
(4) CRIT VIEW
The CRIT VIEW where crit stands for criteria consists of twelve
bar charts that represent twelve criteria used in the program to
calculate projection prices, rates of returns and
recommendations to buy or sell. These criteria can be reset by
clicking the mouse at the appropriate value within the bar.
There are also four other function bars that zero the criteria
values, set default criteria values, save criteria values and to
restore saved values. This view may also be printed if desired.
(5) PAGE VIEW
The PAGE VIEW scans through the previously tagged stocks and
uses the currently set criteria to list any stock that is a buy
or sell candidate. The PAGE VIEW list also contains net and
gross rate of return for the two pseudo-risk models. The user
may point and click at any stock on the list and then go to any
other view with the selected stock as the active stock. The
active stock is indicated by the surrounding rectangle. Page up
and page down can also be used to move from page to page if
there are more than thirty stocks. This view may also be printed
if desired.
(6) TAG VIEW
The TAG VIEW has four function bars that the user may point and
click the mouse in to tag or filter the database using the set
criteria. The functions are to tag only buy stocks, to tag only
sell stocks, to tag set criteria if true and to tag all stocks.
Once tagged all the other functions of the database use only the
tagged stocks.
(7) INDUSTRY VIEW
The INDUSTRY VIEW contains twenty eight push buttons that
represent a set of stocks for each industry. One, several or all
industries may be selected by pressing the appropriate buttons.
After selection, all database functions use only those stocks in
the selected industry or industries.
(8) PRINT VIEW
The PRINT VIEW is actually a utility that prints the current
view to the selected graphics printing device. The views that
can be printed are the LIST VIEW, GRAPH VIEW, STATS VIEW, CRIT
VIEW, and PAGE VIEW.
(9) UTIL VIEW
The UTIL VIEW is the view used to select the graphics printing
device, the port connected to the printer, to view the "About
STOCK HIGH-LOW" screen, select system colors and to exit the
program.
1.5 PRODUCT FUNCTION
The primary function of the STOCK HIGH-LOW program is to track
and project the yearly price fluctuations of stocks. STOCK
HIGH-LOW gives the user the ability to quickly review historic
price changes on hundreds of stocks and to quickly interpret for
themselves using the interactive techniques and functions of the
program to aid them in making intelligent decisions concerning
investments. This product was designed follow yearly price
swings and find stocks that fall below their average value thus
giving the investor the ability to buy as low as possible and
sell in the short or long term for profit.
This program is just one tool in a seemingly volatile and
complex financial system and should only be used in conjunction
with other reasonable analyses tools, literature, experience and
other techniques. One conceivable way to use this program is as
follows: When new quarterly data arrives use STOCK HIGH-LOW to
pick out ten stocks that meet your buying criteria. From the
list of ten use an on-line service or publication to review a
company profile for each company. Then based upon that work
select five that further meet your criteria and track daily
prices using an on-line quotes service or other publications.
Finally relying upon your knowledge and experience you must then
decide if and when to buy your selected stocks.
1.6 GENERAL OPERATION
Across the top of the screen is the primary function bar which
contains the commands to move to any of the other views. To move
to the desired view simply point the mouse cursor at the
function and press the left mouse button. You may also use the
keyboard by pressing the appropriate function key.
1.7 PROJECTION DISCUSSION
STOCK HIGH-LOW uses the 52 week high and the 52 week low to
project the next year's 52 week high and low. The idea being
that if you can project the price swing each year there will be
a possible window to buy and sell accordingly. The projection
can be one of four different projection types with each using a
quarters parameter from one to sixteen. Each method is not all
encompassing. Some stocks will be modeled better by a certain
projection using a certain quarters parameter than others. The
beauty of an interactive system is that the user can quickly
test and retest to find the optimum projection for each stock.
The four projections and a brief description are as follows:
THE LINEAR PROJECTION
The linear projection for the high calculates the average per
year change between the current 52 week high and a previous 52
week high as defined by moving backwards in time the number of
quarters selected by the quarters parameter then adds the
average per year change to the current 52 week high to arrive at
the projected value. The low is calculated in the same manner.
THE LEAST SQUARES PROJECTION
The linear least squares method produces a best fit straight
line of all the data points used in the calculation. The linear
least squares projection for the high uses the quarters
parameter for the number of previous quarters from the current
quarter to be used in the projection of the high for the
upcoming year. The low is calculated in the same manner.
THE AVERAGE PROJECTION
The average projection for the high uses a running average of
all high points for the previous number of quarters used in the
projection then adds the average per year change of the running
average to the current high to arrive at the projected high. The
low is calculated in the same manner.
THE SMART PROJECTION
The smart projection looks at current and previous slopes for
the high, current, and low price and makes a statistically based
projection depending upon those slopes and then averages the
previous projections using the quarters parameter to arrive at
the projected high and low.
1.8 RUNNING UNDER WINDOWS 3.X
If you plan to run STOCK HIGH-LOW under Windows 3.X there are a
few things you must do. First make sure you have loaded a mouse
driver before entering Windows. Secondly install the program
STOCHILO.EXE and the icon STOCHILO.ICO into Program Manager,
File, New, Program Item. Thirdly you may need to edit the
default.pif file or create a new one to execute and to maximize
video performance while knowing that STOCK HIGH-LOW needs at
least 420 Kb of free memory, Display Usage must be Full Screen,
and Execution must be exclusive. Since so many variable systems
exist you may need to experiment on yours to fine tune STOCK
HIGH-LOWS peaceful existence with Windows 3.X.
CHAPTER 2
L I S T V I E W
2.1 SUMMARY
The LIST VIEW contains up to 80 stock names, symbols and
industries per page, 2 columns of 40 each. The database contains
over 500 stocks which will be seven pages. The list may be
sorted in alphabetical order by either name or symbol. You may
also either page backward or page forward, or select an active
stock for the other views to operate on. If the TAG VIEW and/or
INDUSTRY VIEW is used to select certain stocks the LIST VIEW
will only show those stocks that are currently tagged.
2.2 DISPLAYING NAME OR SYMBOL
When the program is started the default setting is to display
the stock names in alphabetical order. To display the stock
symbols in alphabetical order simply click the mouse on the
F1-LIST of the primary function bar at the top of the screen or
by pressing F1. To change back to the stock names click the
mouse on the F1-LIST function again or by pressing F1.
2.3 PAGING BARS
In the upper right corner of the screen is where the paging bars
will appear if it is possible to page either backward or
forward. The menu bar that contains BK is for moving back to the
previous page and the menu bar that contains FW is for moving
forward to the next page. You may click the left mouse button in
the BK bar or press the PgUp key to page backward or you may
click the left mouse button in the FW bar or press the PgDn key
to page forward.
2.4 SELECTING ACTIVE STOCK
To select a stock simply point and click the mouse at the
appropriate stock name or symbol, a rectangular box will then be
drawn around the selected stock indicating it as the active
stock. Stocks may also be selected by using the arrow keys on
the keyboard. You may then proceed to any other view.
2.5 MESSAGES
At the bottom left of the screen is a message indicating what
tag type has been set by the TAG VIEW and at the bottom right of
the screen is a message indicating what industry has been set by
the INDUSTRY VIEW.
CHAPTER 3
G R A P H V I E W
3.1 SUMMARY
The GRAPH VIEW has three selectable graph types. The first graph
type is known as the HILO graph and shows the historical
quarterly price data and the historical and current price
projections. The second graph type known as the PERCENT CHANGE
graph shows the quarterly percentage change between the 52 week
high and 52 week low and the projected percentages. The third
graph type known as the PE RATIO graph shows the historical PE
ratio. While using the three graph types the user as an
interpreter may interactively change and modify the projections
to best fit the users insight. Each graph contains a selection
bar to page back to the previous stock, page forward to the next
stock, select the type of projection used, select the number of
quarters used in projection type, or to split the screen to
compare the industry averages with the currently selected stock.
3.2 HILO GRAPH
The HILO graph contains the following information.
1) The 52 week high, the 52 week low, and the current price in
dollars versus quarter.
2) The shaded area on the graph denotes price fluctuations
between the high and low prices for the previous year. Within
the shaded area lies the current quarterly price line.
3) The two thick lines originating from the current high and
low are the price projections for the upcoming year.
4) The historical projection line style menu bar is located to
the right of the stock name. By clicking the mouse pointer in
this menu bar or by typing "S" or "s" you may toggle between
LINE, CURVE, or OFF. If LINE is selected a thin line will be
drawn from the historical point where the projection was made
from to the projected point. If CURVE is selected a curve will
be drawn connecting all the historical projected points. If OFF
is selected no historical projections will be drawn except the
current one.
5) Plot type bar, paging bars, projection fit type bar,
quarters parameter bar, screen mode type bar and other
annotations are explained later in this chapter.
3.3 PERCENT CHANGE GRAPH
The percent change graph contains the following information:
1) This bar graph shows the percent change between the 52 week
high and the 52 week low versus quarter of which only every year
is annotated.
2) The red bars represent the actual change and the yellow bars
represent the projected changes.
3) Plot type bar, paging bars, projection fit type bar, and
quarters bars and other annotations are explained later in this
chapter.
3.4 PE RATIO GRAPH
The PE RATIO graph contains the following information:
1) The PE RATIO graph is a bar graph showing present and
historical PE ratios. The maximum scale displayed for the PE
RATIO graph is 200.
2) Plot type bar, paging bars, projection fit type bar, and
quarters bar and other annotations are explained later in this
chapter.
3.5 PLOT TYPE BAR
The plot type bar contains three buttons. 'HILO' for the HILO
GRAPH, '%' for the percent change graph, and 'PE' for the PE
ratio graph. You may toggle between the three graphs by pressing
the left mouse button within the desired button or use the
keyboard to toggle between the graphs by pressing the 'P' or 'p'
key. The currently selected graph will be displayed by red text.
3.6 SCREEN MODE TYPE BAR
The mode type bar displays 'SINGLE' which means you are in the
single screen mode and 'DUAL' which means you are in the dual
screen mode. By pressing the left mouse button on either button
you may toggle between these two modes. This function basically
splits the screen as to compare industry averages with the
currently selected stock. All three of the plot types may be
split. In the 'dual' mode the lower screen will be the industry
average of whatever plot type is currently displayed while the
upper screen will be the currently selected stock. The industry
average will be what ever industry or industries you have
selected in the INDUSTRY VIEW. When paging through the database
only the upper screen will be changed to display the new
selection, the lower screen will not change.
3.7 PAGING BARS
These function bars are located in the upper right margin of the
screen. The BK bar is for paging backward to the previous stock
and the FW bar is for paging forward to the next stock. To page
backward or to page forward simply point the mouse cursor within
the appropriate bar and press the left mouse button. You may
also use the keyboard by pressing the PgUp or PgDn key for
paging backward or forward.
3.8 PROJECTION FIT TYPE BAR
This square menu bar is located directly left of the BK bar in
the upper right margin of the screen. Within the bar there are
four buttons that toggle back and forth, these are an "LN"
indicates the linear method, an "LS" indicates the linear least
squares method, an "AV" indicates the average method, and a "SP"
indicates the "smart projection" method which is a mix between a
statistically derived projection and averaging. As the
projection type is changed the projections are changed on the
hilo graph and the percent change graph. To toggle from one
method to another locate the mouse cursor within the bar and
press the left mouse button. You may also use the keyboard by
pressing the "F" or "f" key.
3.9 QUARTERS PARAMETER BAR
This bar is located directly below the paging bars on the
central to lower right margin of the screen. This bar is
partitioned and labeled into sixteen boxes which represent the
number of quarters the current projection type will use in its
calculation for the current and the historical price
projections. The number of quarters currently used in the
calculations is highlighted by a depressed button. To switch
quarters locate the mouse cursor within the appropriate box and
click the left mouse button. The keyboard may also be used by
pressing the up and down arrow keys.
3.10 OTHER ANNOTATIONS
The stock name and symbol are annotated in large bold letters at
the top of the graph. Beneath the symbol is the industry the
stock falls under and below the name is the recommendation to
BUY, SELL or NO ACTION. In the lower left corner of the graph is
a short line telling what TAG criteria is currently selected and
in the lower right corner is an industry message which tells
what industry is currently selected.
CHAPTER 4
S T A T S V I E W
4.1 SUMMARY
The STATS VIEW is the core of STOCK HIGH-LOW. This is the view
where all the vital statistics for individual stocks are shown.
Such as the projected high and the projected low for the next
year, current price, PE ratio, percent of gross profit for taxes
and commissions, percent growth of the stock over the life of
the STOCK HIGH-LOW database, previous year percent price change,
previous quarter percent price change, high and low price
projection errors from the previous year and an average error
over the past eight quarters.
The STATS VIEW also contains two line graphs and the
accompanying data such as hypothetical purchase and selling
price with a recommendation for action along with gross and net
rates of return for each line graph. These line graphs show the
projected and current prices, and a price bracket within the
projection. The line graph on the left is the fixed bracket
variable rate of return line graph, and shall known as the VROR
line graph. The line graph on the right is the variable bracket-
fixed rate of return bracket, and shall be known as the FROR
line graph. Immediately to the right of the line graphs are the
estimated gross and net rate of returns based upon the current
price. In this view as well as the GRAPH VIEW the user may
interactively change projection parameters and view the new
results. This view also contains a menu bar to page backward to
the previous stock or page forward to next stock and may also be
printed at any time by selecting F7-PRINT with the mouse or by
pressing F7.
4.2 PROJECTED PRICE, CURRENT PRICE, AND PE RATIO
In the upper middle of the STATS VIEW screen are the projected
low and projected high for the upcoming year. These projections
are based upon the currently set projection type and quarters
parameter and can be interactively changed. Below the
projections are the current price and current PE ratio taken
from the last day of the preceding quarter.
4.3 ESTIMATED TAXES AND COMMISSIONS
In the lower right corner of the STATS VIEW is the estimated tax
and commission percentage. This percentage is set in the CRIT
VIEW and is used to calculate the net rate of return from the
gross rate of return.
4.4 HISTORICAL PERCENT PRICE CHANGES
In the lower right corner of the STATS VIEW are the percentage
price changes. The upper one is the percent price change from
last quarter, the middle one is the percent price change from
last year and the bottom one is the percent price change for the
life of the database. These percentages are calculated using the
current prices for the respective time periods.
4.5 PROJECTION ERRORS
This set of data is located in the lower left corner of the
STATS VIEW. It consists of projection price errors for both the
high and low projections for the previous year and also the high
and low average errors for the past eight quarters. The
projection error is the ratio of the difference between the
projected point minus the actual point divided by the difference
between the actual high and the actual low.
( Example 1 )
projected low = 12
projected high = 25
actual low = 10
actual high = 20
price error low = (12-10)/(20-10) * 100 = 20%
price error high = (25-20)/(20-10) * 100 = 50%
( Example 2 )
projected low = 26
projected high = 41
actual low = 28
actual high = 45
price error low = (26-28)/(45-28) * 100 = -11.76%
price error high = (41-45)/(45-28) * 100 = -23.53%
Positive projection errors indicate that the projected point was
too high while negative projection errors indicate that the
projected points were too low.
4.6 FIXED BRACKET - VARIABLE RATE OF RETURN LINE GRAPH
( VROR LINE GRAPH )
The VROR line graph is the line graph on the left. The main
components of the VROR line graph are the high and low projected
lines in yellow, the VROR lines in blue which are the calculated
buying and selling prices, the current price in red, and the
stock price scale in white. If the high and low projections
cross or if the high or low projection goes negative a CROSSOVER
ERROR will appear in the line graph. The concept of the VROR
line graph is that of a marginal comfort factor or risking the
projected high and low to find an acceptable rate of return
within the projected high and low for a given fixed bracket
centered at the midpoint of the projected high and low. With the
difference between the projected high and the projected low as
100% the VROR lines represent the purchase price and the selling
price that would give a fixed percentage bracket within the
projected
high and projected low, and using these fixed bracket prices a
rate of return is then calculated. For the VROR line graph the
numerical data is displayed directly above the graph. It
includes the fixed bracket percentage, the variable rate of
return, the projected buying price and the projected selling
price followed by the recommended course of action. A purchase
recommendation is given if the current price is below the buying
price and all other criteria are true, a selling recommendation
is given if the current price is greater than the selling price
and if all other criteria are true, and a no action
recommendation is given if the current price in between the
buying and selling price or if one or more of the set criteria
is false.
4.7 GROSS AND NET RATES OF RETURN FOR THE VROR LINE GRAPH
Immediately to the right of the VROR line graph is the gross and
net rates of return. If the current price is lower then the
projected selling price the gross rate of return is calculated
by using the current price as the purchase price and the
projected selling price as the sales price. If the current price
is greater than the projected selling price than the gross rate
of return is calculated by using the projected buying price as
the purchase price and the current price as the sales price. The
net rate of return is calculated by multiplying the gross rate
of return by the estimated percent commissions and taxes.
4.8 VARIABLE BRACKET - FIXED RATE OF RETURN LINE GRAPH
( FROR LINE GRAPH )
The FROR line graph is the line graph on the right. The main
components of the FROR line graph are the high and low projected
lines in yellow, the FROR lines in blue, the current price in
red, and the stock price scale in white. If the high and low
projections cross or if the high or low projection goes negative
a CROSSOVER ERROR will appear in the line graph. The concept of
the FROR line graph is that of a marginal comfort factor or
risking the projected high and low to find an acceptable
marginal bracket within the projected high and low which is
centered at the midpoint of the projected high and low for any
given rate of return. With the difference between the projected
high and the projected low as 100% the FROR lines represent the
buying price and the selling price that would give a fixed rate
of return of a bracket centered about the midpoint of the
projected high and projected low, and using the fixed rate of
return prices a variable bracket is then calculated. For the
FROR line graph the numerical data is displayed directly above
the graph. It includes the fixed rate of return, the variable
bracket percentage, the projected buying price, and the
projected selling price followed by the recommended course of
action. A purchase recommendation is given if the current price
is below the buying price and all other criteria are true, a
selling recommendation is given if the current price is greater
then the selling price and if all other criteria are true, and a
no action recommendation is given if the current price in
between the buying and selling price or if one or more of the
set criteria is false.
4.9 GROSS AND NET RATES OF RETURN FOR THE FROR LINE GRAPH
Immediately to the right of the FROR line graph is the gross and
net rates of return. If the current price is lower than the
projected selling price the gross rate of return is calculated
by using the current price as the purchase price and the
projected selling price as the sales price. If the current price
is greater than the projected selling price than the gross rate
of return is calculated by using the projected buying price as
the purchase price and the current price as the sales price. The
net rate of return is calculated by multiplying the gross rate
of return by the estimated percent commissions and taxes.
4.10 PAGING BARS
These function bars are located at the upper right margin of the
screen. The BK bar is for paging backward to the previous stock
and the FW bar is for paging forward to the next stock. To
execute a page backward or a page forward simply point the mouse
cursor within the bar and press the left mouse button. You may
also use the keyboard by pressing the PgUp key for paging
backward or the PgDn key for paging forward.
4.11 PROJECTION TYPE BAR
This square menu bar is located directly left of the BK bar in
the upper right margin of the screen. Within the bar there are
four buttons that toggle back and forth, these are an "LN"
indicates the linear method, an "LS" indicates the linear least
squares method, an "AV" indicates the average method, and a "SP"
indicates the "smart projection" method which is a mix between a
statistically derived projection and averaging. As the
projection type is changed the projections are changed on the
hilo graph and the percent change graph. To toggle from one
method to another locate the mouse cursor within the bar and
press the left mouse button. You may also use the keyboard by
pressing the "F" or "f" key.
4.12 QUARTERS PARAMETER BAR
This bar is located directly below the paging bars in the
central to lower right margin of the screen. This bar is
partitioned and labeled into sixteen boxes which represent the
number of quarters the current projection type will use in its
calculation for the historical price projections and for the
following year's price projections. The number of quarters
currently used in the calculations is highlighted by the
depressed button. As the quarters parameter is changed the line
graph and the statistics change also. To change the number of
quarters used in the projection locate the mouse cursor within
the appropriate box and click the left mouse button. The
keyboard may also be used by pressing the up and down arrow keys.
4.13 OTHER ANNOTATIONS
The stock name is annotated in large bold letters at the top of
the screen. In the upper left corner of the screen is the stock
symbol and the industry of the current stock. In the lower
left corner of the screen is the tag message and in the lower
right corner of the screen is the industry message.
CHAPTER 5
C R I T E R I A V I E W
5.1 SUMMARY
The CRIT VIEW is the view were the user can interactively select
with the mouse pointer certain parameters used for calculating
recommendations and to set parameters used to filter the
database in the TAG VIEW. This view contains twelve bar graphs
which represent the parameters used for calculating
recommendations and tagging. The twelve bar graphs and their
respective ranges are as follows;
The top row from left to right
1) High Price Error (-50% to 50%)
2) Low Price Error (-50% to 50%)
3) PE Ratio (0 to 100)
4) Last Quarter Change (-50% to 50%)
5) Last Year Change (-50% to 50%)
6) Average Change per Year (-50% to 50%)
The bottom row from left to right
7) Fixed Bracket (0% to 100%)
8) Variable Rate of Return (0% to 100%)
9) Current Price (0 to 100)
10) Estimated Commission and Tax (0% to 100%)
11) Fixed Rate of Return (0% to 100%)
12) Variable Bracket (0% to 100%)
This view also contains function boxes to set default criteria,
to null the criteria, to save user defined criteria and to
restore user defined criteria. In the bottom left corner of the
screen is a short line displaying the tag message and in the
lower right corner of the screen is the industry message.
5.2 GENERAL OPERATION OF SELECTING CRITERIA
For the High Price Error, Low Price Error, PE Ratio, Previous
Quarter Change, Previous Year Change, Average Change per Year,
Variable ROR and the Variable Bracket bars there are two markers
within the bar. These markers consist of a horizontal line
representing the value as displayed on the bar graph scale to
the right of the bar and a perpendicular line either pointing
down which signifies the marker as a greater than sign, or a
perpendicular line pointing up which signifies the marker as a
less than sign. To change the less than marker move the mouse
pointer to the value within the bar and press the left mouse
button, the less than marker will snap to the pointed position
and display its current value to the left of the bar. To change
the greater than marker move the mouse pointer to a value within
the bar and press the right mouse button, the greater than
marker will snap to the pointed position and the current value
will be displayed to the left of the bar. These two markers set
the criteria that will be used in the recommendations or used
for filtering the data in the TAG VIEW. For example, if you
would like only stocks with a 10% to 20% average change per year
over the life of the database, point the mouse cursor within the
Average Change per Year bar and click the left button at 20 and
move the mouse cursor to 10 and click the right button. This is
equivalent to writing an equation that says keep any value
greater then 10% but less then 20%.
5.3 HIGH AND LOW PRICE ERROR BARS
These are the first two bars on the top row. They contain both a
less than and a greater than marker. The left mouse button
changes the less than marker and the right mouse button changes
the greater than marker. Both bars have a range of -50% to 50%.
Depending upon where you locate the markers within the bar you
can set the markers as to be inclusive, meaning capture values
between the markers, or to be exclusive, to capture values
outside the markers, or null, meaning to nullify the criteria
and capture all values. If the greater than marker is less then
the less than marker the result is inclusive, if the greater
than marker is greater than the less than marker the result will
be exclusive, and if the two markers are overlapped at the same
value the result will nullify the criteria to accept all values.
5.4 PE RATIO AND CURRENT PRICE BARS
The PE Ratio and current price bars are the third and ninth bars
respectively. They contain both a less than and a greater than
marker. The left mouse button changes the less than marker and
the right mouse button changes the greater than marker. Both
bars have a range of 0% to 100%. Depending upon where you locate
the markers within the bar you can set the markers as to be
inclusive, meaning capture values between the markers, or to be
exclusive, to capture values outside the markers, or null,
meaning to nullify the criteria and capture all values. If the
greater than marker is less then the less than marker the result
is inclusive, if the greater than marker is greater than the
less than marker the result will be exclusive, and if the two
markers are overlapped at the same value the result will nullify
the criteria and to accept all values.
5.5 LAST QUARTER, LAST YEAR, AND AVERAGE CHANGE BARS
These three bars are the forth, fifth and sixth bar on the top
row. They contain both a less than and a greater than marker.
The left mouse button changes the less than marker and the right
mouse button changes the greater than marker. Both bars have a
range of -50% to 50%. Depending on where you locate the markers
within the bar you can set the markers as to be inclusive,
meaning capture values between the markers, or to be exclusive,
to capture values outside the markers, or null, meaning to
nullify the criteria and capture all values. If the greater than
marker is less then the less than marker the result is
inclusive, if the greater than marker is greater than the less
than marker the result will be exclusive, and if the two markers
are overlapped at the same value the result will nullify the
criteria and to accept all values.
5.6 FIXED BRACKET BAR
The first bar from the left on the bottom row is the Fixed
Bracket Bar. This is the value that is used to set a fixed
percent bracket centered at the midpoint between the projected
high and projected low. The range is from 0% to 100% with 100%
being the difference between the high and low projections. This
is a round about way of risking the price projections. The
percent bracket that is selected is used to calculate the rate
of return if you were to purchase at the risked low price and
sell at the risked high. To change the value of the Fixed
Bracket Bar move the mouse cursor to the value you want within
the bar and press the left mouse button. A horizontal line will
snap to the value you clicked and the value will be displayed to
the left of the bar.
5.7 VARIABLE RATE OF RETURN BAR
The second bar from the left on the bottom row is the Variable
ROR bar. This bar captures the rate of return from the risked
price projections as set by the Fixed Bracket Bar. Its range is
from 0% to 100% rate of return. This bar works with the Fixed
Bracket Bar. When you select a Fixed Bracket value a rate of
return is calculated for those projections, if this rate of
return meets the criteria as set in the Variable ROR Bar then
the resultant condition is true. The Variable ROR bar contains a
greater than marker and a less than marker, depending upon where
you locate the markers within the bar you can set the markers as
to be inclusive, meaning to capture values between the markers,
or to be exclusive, to capture values outside the markers, or
null, meaning to nullify the criteria and capture all values. If
the greater than marker is less then the less than marker the
result is inclusive, if the greater than marker is greater than
the less than marker the result will be exclusive, and if the
two markers are overlapped at the same value the result will
nullify the criteria and to accept all values.
5.8 ESTIMATED TAXES & COMMISSIONS BAR
This bar is the forth bar from the right on the bottom row with
a range of 0% to 100%. It is used to calculate the net rate of
return from the gross rate of return which was calculated by the
projections and the current price. To set this criteria move the
mouse pointer within the bar at the value you desire and click
the left mouse button. The horizontal line representing the
value will snap to the new position and the value will be
numerically displayed to the left of the bar.
5.9 FIXED RATE OF RETURN BAR
The fifth bar from the left on the bottom row is the Fixed ROR
bar. This is the rate of return used to calculate a variable
percentage bracket centered about the midpoint of the projected
high and low. The range is from 0% to 100%. This again is
another round about way of risking the price projections. To
change the value of the Fixed ROR Bar move the mouse cursor to
the value you want within the bar and press the left mouse
button. A horizontal line will snap to the value you clicked and
the value will be displayed to the left of the bar.
5.10 VARIABLE BRACKET BAR
The sixth bar from the left on the bottom row is the Variable
Bracket bar. This bar captures the percent bracket from the
risked price projections as set by the Fixed ROR Bar. Its range
is from 0% to 100%. This bar works with the Fixed ROR Bar. When
you select a Fixed ROR value a percent bracket is calculated for
that value, if this percent bracket meets the criteria as set in
the Variable Bracket Bar then the condition is true. The
Variable Bracket Bar contains a greater than marker and a less
than marker, depending on where you locate the markers within
the bar you can set the markers as to be inclusive, meaning
capture values between the markers, or to be exclusive, to
capture values outside the markers, or null, meaning to nullify
the criteria and capture all values. If the greater than marker
is less than the less than marker the result is inclusive, if
the greater than marker is greater than the less than marker the
result will be exclusive, and if the two markers are overlapped
at the same value the result will nullify the criteria and to
accept all values.
5.11 CRITERIA FUNCTION BOXES
On the right side of the view there are four function boxes.
These boxes perform certain functions useful in setting and
restoring criteria values. The top box restores user set
criteria from a disk file, the second box from the top saves
user set criteria to a disk file, the third box from the top
sets general predefined default criteria, and the bottom box
zeros or nulls all criteria. To select the desired function
point the mouse cursor within the function box and click the
left mouse button, the criteria will be instantly updated.
5.12 USING THE KEYBOARD TO CHANGE CRITERIA MARKERS
To use the keyboard to set the criteria markers use press "T" or
"t" to select the top row or "B" or "b" to select the bottom
row. Then press either "1" thru "6" to select the criteria bar
from left to right. After that now press "L" or "l" to select
the less than marker or "G" or "g" to select the greater than
marker. Now use the up or down arrow keys to move the criteria
marker. When finished press enter. Example: If the last quarter
percent change greater than marker needed to be moved to 10%
then press "T", "4", "G", then use the up or down arrow until
the marker is at 10% then press enter.
5.13 CRITERIA SELECTION EXAMPLES
1) Suppose you would like to see a list of all stocks that had
a last years price change of between 0% and 15%. To do this you
must first null all criteria by clicking the left mouse button
within the ZERO function box, this is to say that all stocks
will pass as true. Then point the mouse cursor within the Last
Years Percent Change bar and click the left mouse button at the
fifteen value and the right mouse button at the zero value. Now
the criteria are set give a true response for any stock that has
a last years change of between zero and fifteen percent. You
must then go to the TAG VIEW and select option four, to tag
selected criteria, then go to any other view to review results.
2) Suppose you would like to review a list of buy
recommendations with the high and low price projection error
between -25% and 25% and all other criteria set to default. To
do this you first select the
DEFAULT function box on the right side of the view by clicking
the left mouse button with the cursor in the box. Then point the
mouse cursor within the high price error bar and click the left
button at 25% which moves the less than marker then click right
button at -25% which moves the greater than marker. Also set the
low price error bar like the high price error bar. Now go to the
TAG VIEW and select option one, to tag buy recommendations, then
go to any other view to review the results.
CHAPTER 6
P A G E V I E W
6.1 SUMMARY
The PAGE VIEW generates a list of all buy or sell
recommendations with the net and gross rates of return for both
the fixed bracket criteria and the fixed rate of return
criteria. Buy recommendations are highlighted in red if all the
set criteria are true and the current price is below the
projected low. Sell recommendations are highlighted in blue if
all the set criteria are true and the current price is above the
projected high. It is very important to note that the PAGE VIEW
uses the currently set criteria with the stocks that have been
tagged using the TAG filter and the INDUSTRY filter to calculate
recommendations, that is to say that the PAGE VIEW is a filter
of a filter. This view is designed to compare all
recommendations with each other. The user may choose any one of
the displayed stocks and then go to any other view with that
stock as the active stock, the user may also page backward or
page forward through the list if there is more than one page of
recommendations. This view may also be printed by selecting
F7-PRINT with the mouse or by pressing the F7 key.
6.2 PAGE VIEW COLUMN HEADER
The column header for the PAGE VIEW includes from left to right
the symbol, stock name, Fixed Bracket percentage, gross ROR for
the Fixed Bracket, net ROR for the Fixed Bracket, Fixed Return
percentage, gross ROR for the Fixed Return, and net ROR for the
Fixed Return. Under the Fixed Bracket and Fixed Return headings
is the recommendation each method calculates. The Fixed Bracket
and the Fixed Return give different results for the
recommendation, and the gross and net rate of return because of
the different risked values each method uses.
6.3 SELECTING STOCKS
To select a stock from the list you must point the mouse cursor
anywhere along the given line for the stock you want then press
the left mouse button, a rectangular box will be drawn around
the selected stock. You may also use the up or down cursor keys
to select a stock. When the stock is selected you may then go to
any other view with that stock as the active stock.
6.4 PAGING BARS
These function bars are located at the upper right margin of the
screen and only appear when it is possible to page forward or to
page backward. The BK bar is for paging backward to the previous
page and the FW bar is for paging forward to the next page. To
page backward or page forward simply point the mouse cursor
within the bar and press the left mouse button. You may also use
the keyboard by pressing the PgUp key for paging backward or the
PgDn key for paging forward.
6.5 OTHER ANNOTATIONS
When entering the PAGE VIEW a message in red appears at the
bottom center of the screen telling you that the program is
computing recommendations. Also at the bottom center of the
screen is a short message telling you what type of tag setting
is currently applied. If there are no more recommendations a
"THERE ARE NO MORE RECOMMENDATIONS" will appear at the bottom
center of the list.
In the lower left corner of the screen is the tag message and in
the lower right corner of the screen is the industry message.
CHAPTER 7
INDUSTRY VIEW
7.1 Summary
Using the INDUSTRY VIEW it is possible to isolate a group of
stocks and compare an individual stock to the group average and
to compare one group to another. These groups are based upon the
industry or type of business that the company is primarily
engaged in. The INDUSTRY VIEW contains twenty eight push bars,
twenty seven select the specified group of stocks for a given
industry and one that selects all industries. One, several or
all industries may be selected by pressing the left mouse button
when the mouse cursor is within the bar. After selection all
database functions use only those stocks in the selected
industry or industries.
7.2 Industry Discussion
The twenty seven industries and their respective three
character mnemonics are:
AEROSPACE/DEFENSE AED
APPAREL APL
AUTOMOTIVE AUT
BUILDING BDG
CHEMICALS CHM
CONGLOMERATE CGL
ELECTRICAL ELE
FINANCIAL/BANKING FIN
FOODS/BEVERAGE FDS
HOUSEHOLD HHD
INSURANCE INS
MACHINERY MCH
MANUFACTURING MNF
MEASURE/CONTROL MCL
MEDICAL/DRUGS MED
MINING/METALS MMT
OFFICE EQUIPMENT OEQ
OIL/GAS OIL
PAPER/FOREST PPF
PUBLISHING PBL
RECREATION REC
RETAIL/WHOLESALE RTL
SERVICES SRV
STEEL STL
TELECOMMUNICATIONS TEL
TRANSPORTATION TRN
UTILITIES UTL
It is evident that the twenty seven groups of industries could
not possibly describe all industrial and business types,
however, the industries used do cover the fundamental
businesses. Each Industry has a fair representation, the average
number of stocks per industry is nineteen with the most being in
Retail/Wholesale and the least in Office Equipment. Categorizing
companies by the type of industry or business they operate is
not a straight forward process since some companies may fall
into several categories or none at all, yet each company has a
general purpose or primary function that was classified into one
of the twenty seven categories.
7.3 Selecting Industries
When starting Stock High-Low all industries are automatically
selected. This setting is reflected in the industry message
located in the bottom right corner in most of the views. To
change the selected industry point the mouse cursor within the
F6-INDS box on the primary menu from any of the views and click
the left mouse button or press the F6 key. Then use the left
mouse button to highlight the industry bars. When an industry
bar is first clicked it will become highlighted to the on
position, if it is clicked again it will return to the off
position. When only one industry is highlighted and it is
toggled to the off position the ALL INDUSTRIES bar will
automatically be toggled on, conversely if the ALL INDUSTRIES
bar is on when you click on an industry the ALL INDUSTRIES will
be toggled to the off position. It is also possible to toggle
several of the industries to the on position at the same time by
clicking the mouse cursor in the desired industry bars.
When finished you may select from the primary menu bar and
continue working.
7.4 Interaction With Other Views
When exiting the INDUSTRY VIEW the program calculates the
averages for the selected industry or industries. Thus the more
industries that are selected the longer it will take to exit
this view and enter the next view. After industry selection all
database functions will only operate on selected industries.
Stock High-Low creates a fictitious stock the name of which
depends upon the selected industry or industries. This
fictitious stocks then becomes like other real stocks except it
cannot be tagged as a buy , sell or no recommendation stock.
The LIST VIEW will display only the stocks of the selected
industries. You will notice at the bottom of the list the
fictitious stock that is the average of the selected industries.
The GRAPH VIEW can only page through the stocks in the selected
industries plus the fictitious industry average stock. When the
graph is in "Dual-Mode" the lower graph will display the
averages for the selected industries and will remain static
while the top graph will display one of the stocks from the
selected industries. The top graph is dynamic and has all the
functionality of a "Single-Mode" graph.
The STATISTICS VIEW can only page through any of the stocks in
the selected industries plus the fictitious industry average
stock.
The PAGE VIEW will only operate on the selected industries as
well on the set criteria from the CRIT VIEW.
The TAG VIEW will only operate on the selected industries as
well on the set criteria from the CRIT VIEW. It is quite
conceivable that no stocks will be tagged and it is good to
remember that three things affect the tagging process, the
industries selected, the projection type and parameters, and the
set criteria. If this happens you must change any or all of
these variables to get some tagged stocks.
CHAPTER 8
T A G V I E W
8.1 SUMMARY
The TAG VIEW consists of four basic functions which include
tagging all buy recommendations, tagging all sell
recommendations, tagging the set criteria, and lastly to tag all
stocks. These four functions are selected from four menu bars in
the TAG VIEW. When tagging buy, sell and set criteria a clock
bar appears at the bottom of the screen showing the percentage
of completion the tagging process has finished. The primary
function bar also appears across the top of the screen and may
be accessed anytime except when the program is in the tagging
process.
8.2 GENERAL TAGGING DISCUSSION
When a tag function is selected the function processes all the
stocks in the database from A to Z. The tagging process starts
by testing each criteria as set in the CRIT VIEW against the
calculated criteria for the current stock. If the current test
meets the conditions of the given criteria then the stock is
passed to the next criteria to test, if the stock does not meet
the conditions of the given criteria then the stock being tested
is rejected and the next stock is selected and the process
begins again until all stocks have been evaluated. Following is
a list of the sequence of criteria testing.
1. AVERAGE GROWTH
2. LAST YEAR CHANGE
3. LAST QUARTER CHANGE
4. PE RATIO
5. CURRENT PRICE
6. VARIABLE ROR
7. VARIABLE BRACKET
8. PRICE ERROR LOW
9. PRICER ERROR HIGH
Also in the tagging process it is important to note that the
currently selected projection type and the number of quarters
set by the quarters parameter in either the GRAPH VIEW or the
STATS VIEW will be used in calculating certain criteria for
testing and thus will widely effect the time taken to execute
the tagging process. The linear projection is by far the fastest
since it is only taking the average slope between two points.
Next is the average projection which uses a running average of
all points for the number of quarters used in the projection
then adds the average change for the running average to arrive
at the projected price. Next is the linear least squares
projection which is a more numerically intensive operation. The
slowest is the "smart" projection which looks at current and
previous slopes for the high, current, and low prices and makes
a statistically based projection depending on those slopes and
then averages previous projections using the quarters parameter.
The number of quarters used in the projection will only effect
the speed of the average, linear least squares, "smart" fit
types. It is recommended for the "smart" projection to use a
quarters parameter of two or three in order to smooth the smart
projection but to retain the projection. The speed of the
tagging process has been optimized using integer math, math
co-processing emulation, and conditional statements. The STOCK
HIGH-LOW software does not use a math co-processor because
compiled 80x87 source code resulted in only a minor speed
advantage when using a math co-processor and a large
disadvantage when not using a math co-processor.
8.3 TAGGING BUY RECOMMENDATIONS
This tagging process only tags stocks that meet all currently
set criteria and have a current price below the risked projected
low. To tag all buy recommendations place the mouse cursor
within the menu bar labeled "1. TAG ALL BUY RECOMMENDATIONS."
and press the left mouse button. This function may also be
executed by pressing the "1" key. Immediately there will appear
a clock bar at the bottom of the screen. This bar shows the
percentage of the total time that the tagging process has
completed.
8.4 TAGGING SELL RECOMMENDATIONS
This tagging process only tags stocks that meet all currently
set criteria and have a current price above the risked projected
high. To tag all sell recommendations place the mouse cursor
within the menu bar labeled "2. TAG ALL SELL RECOMMENDATIONS."
and press the left mouse button. This function may also be
executed by pressing the "2" key. Immediately there will appear
a clock bar at the bottom of the screen. This bar shows the
percentage of the total time that the tagging process has
completed.
8.5 TAGGING SET CRITERIA
This tagging process only tags stocks that meet the currently
set criteria regardless of where the current price is in
relation to the projections. To tag currently set criteria place
the mouse cursor within the menu bar labeled "3. TAG SET
CRITERIA." and press the left mouse button. This function may
also be executed by pressing the "3" key. Immediately there will
appear a clock bar at the bottom of the screen. This bar shows
the percentage of the total time that the tagging process has
completed.
8.6 TAGGING ALL STOCKS
This tagging process tags all stocks that are in the database.
To tag all stocks place the mouse cursor within the menu bar
labeled "4. TAG ALL STOCKS." and press the left mouse button.
This function may also be executed by pressing the "4" key. No
clock bar will appear for this tagging process because this
process is almost instantaneous.
CHAPTER 9
P R I N T V I E W
9.1 SUMMARY
The PRINT VIEW is the utility that prints the current screen to
the graphics printer. The views that may be printed are the LIST
VIEW, GRAPH VIEW, STATS VIEW, CRIT VIEW and the PAGE VIEW. The
printer type and printer port are selected under the UTIL VIEW.
6 dot matrix, laser, ink-jet, laser-jet and paint-jet printers
are supported for either LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, COM1, or COM2 ports.
9.2 GENERAL OPERATION
To print the current view point the mouse cursor to the F7-PRINT
and click the left mouse button or you may press the F7 key.
Before the printing begins a copyright notice will replace the
primary function bar. If the printer is not ready, not turned
on, or the wrong port specified or any other error occurs then
an error message will appear on the screen. This aborts the
printing after a response from the user. If you wish to stop the
printing process you may press the Escape key, a message box
will appear and ask you either to continue by pressing the left
mouse button or "C" or "c", or to abort printing by pressing the
right mouse button or any other key. After five percent of the
print is completed a small box will appear in the upper right
hand corner of the screen indicating what percentage of the
print has been completed. When the printing has completed the
primary function bar will be redrawn and program execution will
resume.
9.3 PRINTING TROUBLE-SHOOTING
Before every printing process begins STOCK HIGH-LOW goes to the
file STOCHILO.PDT (printer definition table) on disk and looks
up the printer definition table for the currently selected
printer. If the printer definition table is not in the current
directory an error message occurs and the printing process is
terminated. You must then exit STOCK HIGH-LOW and copy
STOCHILO.PDT to the same directory as STOCHILO.EXE.
Make sure that when you enter STOCK HIGH-LOW for the first time
that you select the proper printer and printer port as described
in the UTIL VIEW before printing.
Make sure that the correct printer has been selected. If the
wrong printer is selected the printer might work erratically or
not work at all. You can try pressing the ESCAPE key to
terminate the printing. However, some printers have a memory
buffer so even if control has returned to STOCK HIGH-LOW the
printer might still be printing. If the ESCAPE key does not stop
the printing the last resort is to turn off the printer to
restore complete control. After all this you should proceed to
the UTIL VIEW and select the proper printer.
If your printer is not one of the supported printers it may be
compatible with one of the supported printers. You may need to
consult your printer's manual to find a compatible printer then
select the supported printer in the UTIL VIEW.
If you are using COM1 or COM2 for printer output be careful that
you select the correct serial port because STOCK HIGH-LOW can
not detect what type of device is installed. It might happen
that you are sending print information to a modem, mouse, or
other device. If you mistakenly print to a modem you may
interrupt output after a few seconds by pressing the ESCAPE key.
If printing to the mouse you will receive a File/Printer write
error. You may then go to the UTIL VIEW and change to the
correct printer port.
CHAPTER 10
U T I L V I E W
10.1 SUMMARY
The UTIL VIEW contains four separate function bars that may be
selected by the mouse or the keyboard. The first is to select
the printer type, the second is to select the printer port, the
third is to bring up a screen about STOCK HIGH-LOW, and the
fourth is to exit the program.
10.2 PRINTER SELECTION
This first function bar serves two purposes, to select a printer
and to display the currently set printer. To select a new
printer point the mouse cursor within the function bar and press
the left mouse button or press "1" from the keyboard. When this
is done STOCK HIGH-LOW goes to the file STOCHILO.PDT (printer
definition table) on disk and looks up the printer names stored
in it. If the printer definition table is not in the current
directory an error message occurs and the printer selection
process is terminated. You must then exit STOCK HIGH-LOW and
copy STOCHILO.PDT to the same directory as STOCHILO.EXE. If the
printer definition table is found then a list will be displayed
to the screen. The list contains up to forty printers per page
with the total number of printers at 6 for this version. You
may page forward or backward through the list and select the
desired printer by clicking the left mouse button on the name or
by using the up and down cursor keys which moves a rectangular
box indicating the selected printer. When the correct printer is
highlighted by the rectangle move the mouse cursor to F1-ACCEPT
and press the left mouse button or use the keyboard by pressing
F1. This will take you back to the UTIL VIEW. The selected
printer will now appear in the first function bar indicating
that it is the active printer.
10.3 PRINTER PORT SELECTION
This second function bar also serves two purposes, to select a
printer port and to display the currently set printer port. To
select a new printer port point the mouse cursor within the
second function bar and press the left mouse button or press "2"
from the keyboard. A new screen will appear with the five
possible printer ports, LPT1, LPT2, LPT3, COM1, COM2. Move the
mouse cursor to the desired printer port an press the left mouse
button or use the keyboard by pressing either 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5.
When this is done STOCK HIGH-LOW updates the currently set
printer port within the function bar.
10.4 ABOUT STOCK HIGH-LOW
This third function bars draws a screen with information about
STOCK HIGH-LOW. To exit this screen press any mouse button or
any key.
10.5 CHANGE COLORS
After selecting the Change Color option in the UTIL VIEW a new
screen will appear with four possible choices color combinations
and a done bar. To select a color combination point the mouse
cursor within the desired color bar and press the left mouse
button. The new color combination will be set. To exit the color
screen click on the done bar to return to the UTIL VIEW or press
"5" from the keyboard.
10.6 EXIT PROGRAM
This fifth function exits the program and returns to the point
of entry. To exit the program point the mouse cursor within the
fifth function bar labelled "EXIT PROGRAM" and press the left
mouse button or press "5" from the keyboard.
APPENDIX A
HOT KEY COMMANDS
ALL VIEWS
F1 - List View F6 - Inds View
F2 - Graph View F7 - Tag View
F3 - Stats View F8 - Print View
F4 - Crit View F9 - Util View
F5 - Page View
LIST VIEW
F1 - Toggle Between Name and Symbol
PgUp - Page Backward to Previous Page
PgDn - Page Forward to Next Page
Dn Arrow - Moves Selection Rectangle Down
Up Arrow - Moves Selection Rectangle Up
Lf Arrow - Moves Selection Rectangle Lf
Rt Arrow - Moves Selection Rectangle Rt
GRAPH VIEW
PgUp - Page Backward to Previous Page
PgDn - Page Forward to Next Page
"M" or "m" - Toggle between Dual or Single Graph Mode
"F" or "f" - Toggle the Fit Type
"P" or "p" - Toggle Plot Type
"S" or "s" - Toggle Line Style in HILO Graph Mode
Up Arrow - Decrease the Number of Quarters in Projection
Dn Arrow - Increase the Number of Quarters in Projection
STATS VIEW
PgUp - Page Backward to Previous Page
PgDn - Page Forward to Next Page
"F" or "f" - Toggle the Fit Type
Up Arrow - Decrease the Number of Quarters in Projection
Dn Arrow - Increase the Number of Quarters in Projection
CRIT VIEW
"Z" or "z" - Zero Criteria
"D" or "d" - Default Criteria
"S" or "s" - Save User Defined Criteria
"R" or "r" - Restore User Defined Criteria
To Move Greater Than or Less Than Markers
"T" or "t" - Top Row Selection
"B" or "b" - Bottom Row Selection
1 thru 6 - Select Criteria Bar
"L" or "l" - Less Than Marker Selection
"G" or "g" - Greater Than Marker Selection
Dn Arrow - Move Greater or Less Than Marker Down
Up Arrow - Move Greater or Less Than Marker Up
Enter - End Moving Criteria Markers
PAGE VIEW
PgUp - Page Backward to Previous Page
PgDn - Page Forward to Next Page
Dn Arrow - Moves Selection Rectangle Down
Up Arrow - Moves Selection Rectangle Up
INDUSTRY VIEW
PgUp - Page Up Through the Industry List
PgDn - Page Down Through the Industry List
CTRL PgUp - To Page Up and Select Multiple Industries
CTRL PgDn - To Page Down and Select Multiple Industries
TAG VIEW
"1" - Tag Buy Recommendations
"2" - Tag Sell Recommendations
"3" - Tag Set Criteria
"4" - Tag All Stocks
PRINT VIEW
ESC - Interrupts Printing
"C" or "c" - To Continue Printing
Any Other Key to Abort Printing
UTIL VIEW
"1" - Select Printer
PgUp - Page Backward to Previous Page
PgDn - Page Forward to Next Page
Dn Arrow - Moves Selection Rectangle Down
Up Arrow - Moves Selection Rectangle Up
F1 - Accept Selected Printer
"2" - Select Printer Port
"1" - Select LPT1
"2" - Select LPT2
"3" - Select LPT3
"4" - Select COM1
"5" - Select COM2
"3" - About STOCK HIGH-LOW
"4" - Change Colors
"1" - Color Combo One
"2" - Color Combo Two
"3" - Color Combo Three
"4" - Color Combo Four
"5" - Exit Program
APPENDIX B
DEFINITION OF TERMS
52-WEEK HIGH - The highest price of a stock during the preceding
52 weeks plus the current week, but not including the current
day. This price has been adjusted for splits, cash dividends
greater than 10% and stock payouts greater than 1%. 52-WEEK LOW
- The lowest price of a stock during the preceding 52 weeks plus
the current week, but not including the current day. This price
has been adjusted for splits, cash dividends greater than 10%
and stock payouts greater than 1%.
CURRENT PRICE - The stock price at the end of any given quarter.
CROSSOVER ERROR - When the high and low projections cross or if
the high or low projection goes negative.
FIXED BRACKET - A fixed percentage bracket centered about the
midpoint of the projected high and projected low with the
distance between the high and low being 100%. With the bracket
fixed a rate of return is calculated using the fixed bracket
prices.
FIXED RETURN - A fixed rate of return bracket centered about the
midpoint of the projected high and projected low. With the rate
of return fixed a bracket is calculated using the fixed rate of
return prices.
FROR - Fixed Rate of Return.
GROSS RATE OF RETURN - The rate of return calculated from the
current price and the projected high.
GROWTH PER YEAR - The average growth in percent of the current
stock price over the life of the database including splits.
HIGH PRICE ERROR - The percent of the total price swing that the
projected high price missed the actual high price.
HISTORICAL PROJECTIONS - Price projections based upon the
previous data to model the projection fit.
LAST QTR CHANGE - The percent change of the current price from
the previous quarter.
LAST YEAR CHANGE -The percent change of the current price from
the previous year.
LOW PRICE ERROR - The percent of the total price swing that the
projected low price missed the actual low price.
NET RATE OF RETURN - The rate of return calculated from the
current price and the projected high minus the estimated
commissions and taxes.
PAGING BARS - An area on several of the views that is used to
page backwards and forwards through the database.
PE RATIO - Determined by dividing the price of a share of stock
by the earnings per share of that stock.
PRICE PROJECTION ERRORS - The percent of the total price swing
that the projected prices missed the actual prices.
PRIMARY FUNCTION BAR - The primary bar across the top of the
screen that can be used by the mouse or the keyboard to go to
any other view.
PROJECTED HIGH - The projected high price using the currently
set projection type and parameter.
PROJECTED LOW - The projected low price using the currently set
projection type and parameter.
PROJECTION TYPE BAR - A function bar that appears only in the
PLOT VIEW and the STATS VIEW and used to select the projection
type.
PURCHASE PRICE - Calculated for both the fixed bracket and fixed
ROR and is the projected and risked purchase price.
QTRS PARAMETER - The number of quarters used in the projection.
QUARTERS PARAMETER BAR - A function bar that appears only in
the PLOT VIEW and the STATS VIEW and used to select the a
quarters parameter of one to sixteen.
RECOMMENDATION FOR NO ACTION - If none of the preset criteria
are true.
RECOMMENDATION TO BUY- If the current price is lower than the
selling price and all preset criteria are true.
RECOMMENDATION TO SELL- If the current price is higher than the
selling price and all preset criteria are true.
RISKED PROJECTED HIGH - The high price after being set by the
VROR method or the FROR criteria.
RISKED PROJECTED LOW - The low price after being set by the VROR
method or the FROR criteria.
ROR - Rate of return.
SELLING PRICE - Calculated for both the Fixed Bracket and Fixed
Return and is the projected and risked selling price.
SYMBOL - The listed ticker symbol for the stock.
TAG MESSAGE - A short message that appears in several of the
views to indicate what tag method is currently applied.
VARIABLE BRACKET - Same as the Fixed Bracket since a set rate
of return bracket will give variable brackets depending upon the
projection and parameter.
VROR BRACKET - Variable rate of return bracket and the same as
Fixed Bracket since a fixed percentage bracket gives variable
rates of return depending on the projection type and parameter.
