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SMGRAPH2.HLP
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1989-02-15
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DESCRIPTION OF BAR GRAPH SCREEN RELEASE 2.54 PAGE 1 OF 8
The bar graph has two vertical scales; the upper part shows high/low/closing
prices and moving averages, and the lower part shows the sales volume in
THOUSANDS of shares. Each vertical bar represents data for one trading period
(day or week). Each price bar is directly above its corresponding volume bar.
The most current data is represented by the rightmost bars; the earliest data
is represented by the leftmost bars.
A price bar represents the low (or bid) and high (or ask) prices for that
period. The closing price is shown as a tick-mark on the RIGHT side of each
price bar. The first moving average (if used) is shown as a horizontal dotted
line, or a tick-mark on the LEFT side of the price bar. The last moving
average (if used) is shown as a horizontal solid line. The stock prices and
moving averages all use the same scale, on the upper right-hand side of the
screen.
high
Enlarged view of price bar: |
|- <--- closing price tick-mark
|
moving average tick-mark ---> -|
|
low
DESCRIPTION OF BAR GRAPH SCREEN PAGE 2 OF 8
The 2 top lines and 3 bottom lines of the bar graph are used for captions. The
top line on the screen always shows the name of the security, the ticker symbol
and exchange. The second line from the top has the price/earnings ratio, divi-
dend yield, annual potential return and stop limit in that order, from left to
right. It is described further on the next screen, along with the correspon-
ding formulas.
The 2nd and 3rd lines from the bottom are used for a horizontal time scale.
Dates are shown in mmddyy format, for example 051588 for May 15, 1988. To allow
for more detail, punctuation is omitted and the year is displayed as two digits
on a separate line below the corresponding month and day. Dates are shown in
the same way for both daily and weekly charts. The tick-mark just above each
date indicates the exact position of the corresponding volume and price bars.
The captions "max=" and "min=" on the lower right identify the maximum and min-
imum sales volume that appear on the chart. Volume is in thousands of shares,
unless the number has an "M" after it in which case volume is in millions. The
bottom line is an abbreviated menu; when the bar chart is printed the menu will
be replaced by more useful information. The chart can be horizontally expanded
or compressed, and also "moved" sideways; this is described on screen page 5.
DESCRIPTION OF BAR GRAPH SCREEN PAGE 3 OF 8
This is the format of the information on the second line of the bar graph:
PE=aaaa Y=bbbb lo% TO hi% STOP=##.###
aaaa is the Price/Earnings ratio which is simply the most current stock
price divided by the earnings. If the P/E ratio is less than .1
or greater than 99.5 it is shown as NMF (No Meaningful Figure).
bbbb is the Yield, which is Dividends divided by the most current stock
price and expressed as a percentage.
lo% TO hi% is the annualized potential return (low and high values) expressed
as a percentage. This represents stock price appreciation compounded
annually over the next five years, plus dividend yield. The formula
is described on the next screen page.
##.### is the stop limit (or other limit) which is entered in the Add/Delete
Stocks program. It is displayed as a reduced-intensity horizontal
line on the graph. If you don't use a stop limit, consider using it
for something else, such as the net price you paid for the stock.
DESCRIPTION OF BAR GRAPH SCREEN PAGE 4 OF 8
Here is the formula the program uses to compute annualized potential return:
APR = ((( EP / CP ) ^ ( 1 / N )) - 1 ) x 100 + Y
where APR is annualized potential return, EP is expected price after N periods,
CP is current price, N is the number of periods (5 years), Y is the percentage
yield and ^ is a symbol which denotes exponentiation (the raising of a number
to a power).
EP is the price goal, which is entered in the Add/Delete Stocks program. Two
values can be entered, a low and high value. These numbers can be taken from
a service such as the Value Line Investment Survey, or can be determined by
the user. Of course, their use is optional.
CP is the current stock price which is entered in the Data Entry screen.
N is always 5 years, and Y is the yield which is computed by the program as
Dividends divided by the current stock price as a decimal.
If a value is missing, annualized potential return will not be calculated.
DESCRIPTION OF BAR GRAPH SCREEN PAGE 5 OF 8
The following is a description of each of the available menu options:
A digit key (0-9) changes the horizontal spacing between the price and volume
bars, thus serving to "compress" or "expand" the display. The higher the num-
ber, the more the display is expanded. Press 1 to show up to 272 days or weeks;
press 9 to show only 30 days or weeks. If you press 0, only 27 days or weeks
are charted (0 actually means 10). The number of days or weeks that will be
charted may be calculated from the formula 272 / N, where N is a number from 1
to 10 that indicates the spacing between bars (ignore any remainder).
Press the - or + keys to "move" the display window towards the beginning of the
data (the earliest dates) or towards the end of the data (the latest dates).
The number of days or weeks that are charted doesn't change. The program will
not display dates outside the range that exists on the price history file.
If it cannot process your request, the computer will "beep" (no error message
will be displayed).
The best way to see what the 0-9, - and + keys do is to experiment. Try it!
You can't hurt the program or the data by pressing the wrong key.
DESCRIPTION OF BAR GRAPH SCREEN PAGE 6 OF 8
Typing one of the following letter keys will invoke the corresponding function:
E = ENTER volume and prices. This will take you back to the data entry screen.
X = EXIT to the stock select screen, to select another stock. Moving average
periods will revert back to their permanent values. All numerical data
will automatically be saved if necessary.
H = HELP. Displays the explanatory information you are reading now.
Q = QUIT the stock charting system and exit to DOS, so you can run a different
program system, make a backup copy of a disk, etc. All numerical data will
automatically be saved, if necessary.
P = PRINT the chart on an Epson FX-80 or compatible printer. Make sure the
printer is on line first, and that its "ready" light is glowing. Printing
will begin on the paper at the current position of the print head. The
process will take about a minute or less on many printers. The bar graph
will print "right side up" and will occupy about 60% of the page height.
Once printing has started, it cannot be interrupted with the Esc key.
DESCRIPTION OF BAR GRAPH SCREEN PAGE 7 OF 8
P = PRINT the chart (continued).
The GRAPHICS program, which is a part of DOS version 2.0 and later, must
have been run BEFORE starting the stock charting system. The actual prin-
ting is done by invoking Interrupt 5 in DOS (the same as what happens when
you press the Shift-PrtSc keys). The menu at the bottom of the screen is
replaced with more useful information. After printing, the menu is re-
stored.
When chart printing is complete, you have the option of having the program
eject the page, or ejecting or spacing the page manually. This option is
provided because some printers do not correctly keep track of the line
count while they are printing graphics, and they won't properly eject to
the beginning of the next print page.
WARNING: Color printing is not supported on most printers. Colors will
be shown in lighter shades of grey. Printing may not work well if the
background color is not black (color choices 0, 1 or 2). The color
schemes can be set from the Master Menu screen with the "V" option.
DESCRIPTION OF BAR GRAPH SCREEN PAGE 8 OF 8
P = PRINT (continued). If you get letters and numbers but no lines, and the
printed display is only 40 columns wide, the problem is the GRAPHICS mod-
ule is not resident in memory. GRAPHICS must be loaded BEFORE the Stock
Charting System.
If you get a bar graph that is broken up - usually with horizontal blank
lines interspersed with the graphics - the problem could be incorrect
printer setup. If your printer has an internal line feed switch, it
should be turned off. Refer to the printer manual, or visit your dealer.
If you get a page full of unrecognizable garbage, or the graph is badly
broken up, the most probable cause is printer incompatibility. Most prin-
ters have an IBM or EPSON compatibility mode; this mode should be activa-
ted before trying to print a chart. Some printers may require a special
ROM chip. Check with your dealer. If you can get a correct graphics
image with the Shift-PrtSc keys, your printer is compatible.
If there is a mechanical printer fault, the program should detect that
and flash an error message. However if the computer "hangs up", try
pressing Ctrl-Break.