Hall of Fame/HallofFameCDROM.cdr/open/sm48.lzh/SM48.DOC

Text File | 1988-09-03 | 22KB | 526 lines

                   STOCKMINDER / STOCK MASTER GUIDE
                           by Ron Lashley
                       Copyright (c) 1984,1987
                          1997 N. Marco Dr.
                        Camarillo, CA  93010


      Welcome to STOCK MASTER the stock market tracking program.
STOCKMIMDER was originally published in PC Disk magazine in 1984 and
was submitted by the author who maintains all rights to the program.
STOCK MASTER is for registered users only and is not allow for public
distribution while STOCKMINDER is for public distribution and you are
encouraged to distribute it.   The number in the name indicates the
latest revision level i.e. SM48.EXE would be the 4th version of 1988.
Any versions with lessor numbers should be replaced with a higher
numbered version.

This manual is now being used for both the public and registered
versions.   Though all of the functions are not available in the
public (STOCKMINDER) version the manual will give the user an idea
of how the function works.

    PLEASE SEE THE REGISTRATION FOR TO REGISTER FOR STOCK MASTER


STOCK MASTER was designed to have weekly closing prices of stocks
entered and will GRAPH, EDIT, DISPLAY and ANALYZE up to 30 stocks at a
time.  It is capable of handling 90 stocks per disk and tracks 52
prices per stock.  When the 53 rd entry is made the first entry
(oldest) will be automatically deleted.  This is a menu driven program
with all the options available on the main menu.  STOCK MASTER works
with color or monochrome systems on IBM PC & PC/XT and compatibles.
It has not been tested on ATs or 386 machines but should work.
Below is a description of the functions that STOCK MASTER provides.

**********************************************************************
Policy:   The purchaser of this program accepts the program as is and
no warranty is given or implied.   While we endevor to produce a top
quality program it is possible that a bug (software error) may show up
from time to time.   If you have a problem with a program version or a
disk you may get a corrected version or new disk by describing the
problem and sending $2.00 to cover costs.  A new disk will be sent as
soon as the problem is corrected.   Customers will be notified of a new
version containing additional features.  A new version of this type
may be purchased at $15.00 for registered customers.
**********************************************************************




















                     THE STOCK MASTER PROGRAM

The STOCK MASTER program may be started by typing STKMST48 from the DOS
prompt.  When it runs you will be asked Which Stock List Do You Want?
This is asking for a 1,2 or 3 answer.  Each stock list holds up to 30
stocks.  You should place the disk containing the DATA1.LIS, DATA2.LIS
AND DATA3.LIS files in the default drive (usually drive A or the hard
drive).  Then enter a 1 ,2 or 3.  You should see a flashing message
LOADING DATA.




If you are just starting and do not have any data files, just enter 1
and the program will try to read, then present the menu with no stocks
present.  When it does not find a data file, an empty file will be
displayed.  A data file will be created automatically once names and
price data is entered.





After a data file is loaded you will be given a menu to select from.
It will read as follows:

                        0 - UPDATE MARKET INDICATORS
                        1 - ADD,DELETE-EDIT MENU
                        2 - UPDATE STOCK PRICES
                        3 - GRAPH STOCK PERFORMANCE
                        4 - HIGH - LOW - LAST
                        5 - BUY/SELL ANALYSIS
                        6 - SORT STOCKS
                        7 - PRINT PRICE HISTORY
                        8 - SWITCH/PRINT STOCK LIST
                        9 - ENTER/UPDATE EPS & TIMELINESS


Here is a description of each of the menu items.
**********************************************************************





UPDATE MARKET INDICATORS:  This section allows information to be
entered that is available from financial newspapers such as Investor's
Daily.  This information such as the prime rate, Dow Jones P/E ratio,
Put/Call price ratio and others form a model that gives a bullish or
bearish indication of market direction.   Below is an example of this
graph.














            RANGE IS -5 (EXTREME BEARISH) TO +5 (EXTREME BULLISH)

             5
             4
             3
             2 ***                    ** * *
             1    *                  *  * * *
             0--------------------*-*---------------------------------
            -1     ***  ***   **** *
            -2        **   * *
            -3              *
            -4
            -5


                           PRESS ENTER TO RETURN TO MENU
                INDICATORS ARE NEUTRAL------USE SELECTIVE INVESTMENT


This is an actual graph with the last weekly plot on 2-05-88.  It can
be seen that a -3 reading was obtained on 10-16-87, the Friday before
the October 19 market crash.

Several of the interest rate inputs, Tax Exempt Bond rate, 3 month
Treasury bill rate, and Fed Discount rate can be obtained from
interest rate graphs available in Investor's Daily  (see Credit Market
section).

You can now send a Form Feed to the printer by pressing function Key
F1.  This is shown in several of the sections where it is appropriate.
It saves a lot of time getting up and down when printing info off of
the screen.
**********************************************************************





ADD,DELETE-EDIT MENU:  At it says you may add a new stock that you
want to start tracking and / or delete any stock on the list.  When a
stock is deleted the hole left by it is filled so that all the blanks
occur at the end of the list.   You will see this when the stock list
is re displayed.  If a stock is to be added it is best to do it in the
following format.  You are allowed up to 17 characters max. and it is
best to use an abbreviation that is used in the newspapers so it can
easily be found.  The stock name should be in capitals and lower case
then followed by its ticker symbol (if known) and the market in
parenthesis.   Use N for New York, A for Amex and O for OTC.

For example:  Southwest Gas Corp. on the NYSE would be entered as
              SwstGas-SWX(N)
If the ticker symbol is not known use: SwstGas(N)
It is important to NOTE that a ticker symbol must be used to read
downloaded stock price data.

The reason for the market symbol in parenthesis is mainly for sorting
and information.  When sorted, all stocks on the same market will be
grouped together.  New stocks may be added at anytime but is is best
to do so when closing prices are available for entry.   Be sure to
keep your data disk in the default drive because many functions
automatically save data when completed.





Now you can edit any stock name.  This comes in handy when the name
you are using doesn't match the financial paper or if the company
changes markets.

With this version you may now edit dates in the data base.   This allows
you to correct for errors that occur in manual entry or in downloaded data.

**********************************************************************




UPDATE STOCK PRICES:   When choosing this selection you will be asked
for a date.  Just enter the date of the friday you are taking the
closing prices from in the format MM/DD/YY as shown in the program.
if the date is one that has not been used before STOCK MASTER will
allow entry of new closing prices.  These should be entered in decimal
form and rounded off to one or two decimals.  For example enter 12 3/4
as 12.7 or 12.75 ;  5 1/8 would be entered as 5.1 .  The slight error
introduced makes no difference to the program if done in a consistent
manner (ie always round down)  and commissions will exceed the slight
price difference anyway.

                    1/8=.12    1/2=.5    7/8=.87
                    1/4=.25    5/8=.62
                    3/8=.37    3/4=.75



If a date is entered that has already been used, you will be presented
with a list of stocks and the prices for that date.  You may edit the
price of any stock at this time.

STOCK MASTER now has the ability to read downloaded Issue price
information from the GEnie Network (1-800-638-9636 for more
information) and other databases that have one of the following
formats: (These are examples showing a Date, Volume, High, Low, Last)

2/21/88 15000 14.50 13.50 14.00      [format #1]
2/21/88, 15000, 14.50, 13.50, 14.00  [format #2]
880221 15000 14.50 13.50 14.00       [format #3]   GEnie download
880121, 15000, 14.50, 13.50, 14.00   [format #4]
19880121 15000 14.50 13.50 14.00     [format #5]   Compuserve CAPTURE

Note that there are three date formats with two types using commas and the
others using only spaces.  All numbers are whole or decimal type.
The program will automatically determine which format is used and
adjust itself when reading the prices.   Of course the download will be
only one of these and will contain up to 52 lines of prices (52 dates).

The weekly price data for all desired issues are downloaded to disk
using a communication program.  Later when running STOCK MASTER the
data can be transferred into the stock data file.  (NOTE: The stock
names must include the ticker symbol as shown in the ADD AND DELETE
STOCK section).

If an error message about a missing date is given it could be because
of this or there may be a date in the existing stock data base (all
the dates for your stock list) that is missing while that date is
present in the downloaded information.   Print the price history of a
stock in that list and check tha dates for a missing one.





If an INVALID FORMAT error is given this could be because the data
contains characters before the dates.   These characters may be control
codes and may not be seen by word processors.   You may edit these codes
out by making sure that the dates start at the far left column and
removing any blank lines at the top of the data file.   This need be done
only if you get an INVALID FORMAT warning.

When downloading the price history of a stock you must name the file
with the ticker symbol followed by .DAT (i.e. for Bush Industries the
file name on your disk that contains the price history must be called
BSH.DAT).  STOCK MASTER takes the ticker symbol from the stock name
and trys to find a match on the disk containing the price history.   A
sample price history that was downloaded from GEnie is included with
this program.

To learn how to download from the GEnie network (or any other with the
above format) refer to the network manual.   For GEnie users here is a
brief description of how to get price histories downloaded.   Using a
good communications program (I prefer PROCOMM) log onto GEnie (you
must be a member) and type the keyword QUOTE$ to get to the financial
services section.   This is an extra charge service.   There will be a
series of menu options from which to choose.   Choose the following
options:

      *   SPECIFIC ISSUE QUERY
      *   PRICE HISTORY
      *   WEEKLY PRICES
      *   DOWNLOAD FORMAT   [CAPTURE for Compuserve]

When choosing the download format you will again get a prompt for an
entry just press ENTER without specifing a number the second time.
GEnie will then ask if you are ready for download, enter a Y but do
not press return until after you set your Comm program for ASCII
download and give the file a name.   This way the Y answer does not
get into the data file.  This may take a little practice to get right.

For COMPUSERVE, use the MICROQUOTES service and choose similiar options
as shown above.   When asked for ISSUE: enter /CAPTURE then press RETURN.
This will put the system into the proper download mode.


**********************************************************************
STOCK MASTER is equipped to send its data files by Electronic Mail.
You may send an ASCII letter to anyone with the data file attached and
when the letter is downloaded the file name must be DATA1.LIS (or 2 or
3).   Place this file in the directory when STOCK MASTER is located
and it will read the data (if everything downloaded OK).  The program
starts reading at the ++ marks in the file.
*********************************************************************


GRAPH STOCK PERFORMANCE:  This routine will automatically  scale
itself to the stock prices.  It is necessary to note that the scales
will be different for each stock.   Each stock is graphed individually
after your selection.  This allows you to see at a glance the
variations in stock prices.

It is very useful to graph a stock that has a buy or sell
recommendation.  The graphs can be printed by using the Shift & Prt Sc
keys, your printer should be on first.  The graphing routine has been
improved in this version.






The bottom horizontal scale represents weeks (entries) with the right
most amount being the last entry.   If you want a printout of these
actual prices see PRINT PRICE HISTORY.
**********************************************************************



HIGH - LOW - LAST:   This useful function will search the data base
and present the highest, lowest and last price for each stock.   This
is helpful in seeing where the present price is in relation to its
highest and lowest prices.  You may not want to purchase a stock when
it is near its high price while it may be a bargain if it has
approached its low.   This information is more useful is there is a
reasonable data base covering at least 12 weeks.   This display may
be printed with Shift & PrtSc.
**********************************************************************




BUY / SELL ANALYSIS:   This is the heart of the STOCK MASTER program.
This routine is based on standard deviation, mean and slope of the
price curve.  These calculations are made for each stock and the
information is put a decision making system that looks at the numbers
and decides from a matrix what action should be taken.   The user must
provide the fundamental information to choose the good quality stocks
with potential.  This can be done by subscribing to a newsletter that
does the research for you or by doing it your self at the library or
other sources ( also see the Stock Selection document included).

After the calculations are made and the action decisions made, the
program will display each stock NAME , the ACTION to take, B/S PRICE
PROJECTION, the AVERAGE PRICE, the LAST PRICE and the stocks BETA
(fluctuations).   Up to 15 stocks will be displayed on the screen.
These can be printed with Shift & PrtSc before pressing the ENTER key
to present the remaining stocks.

If the data base is reasonably large to provide good information just
follow the BUY and SELL signals the program gives you.  Of course you
may not be able to own all the stocks but usually there are only a few
of these signals at any given time.   It is also wise to get
information on the general trend of the market from a newsletter
and/or this program's Market Trend Analysis to aid you in the
decision.  If the trend is bearish you may want to hold off on a
purchase even with a BUY signal or you may decide to sell a stock that
has run up in price when the action says CONSIDER A SELL.

The MEAN given is the average price over the past 52 weeks or whatever
number of price entries are available.

In a typical market the majority of the stocks will have a HOLD/WAIT
action.  This means don't buy or sell yet.   If there is not enough
information (less than 7 weeks) the action will always be HOLD/WAIT.
The more price history available, the better the decision will be!











A Buy or Sell Projection price is now given in this section.  This
routine will calculate a price the stock is heading for which would
indicate a good buy or sell price.  For example, if the last price of
XYZ was $13.25 and the projection was B$ 13.50 and the average price was
$16.00 this would be a good purchase price (assuming market indicators
were OK).  This feature, while it can't predict the future, will help
your planning of purchases and selling of stock.

The symbol B$ indicates a buy projection and S$ is a sell projection.
When an all out Buy or Sell signal is given or STOCK MASTER can not
determine where the stock is going there will be no projection.

Now you can have a printout of the complete Buy/Sell analysis and Hi-
Low-Last for each Data file (all three) with one command.   Just make
sure the printer is on line and set to the top of form (top of the
page) then choose Buy/Sell from the main menu and enter the number 2
at the prompt.   The computer will do the rest.
**********************************************************************



SORT STOCKS:   It is very handy to have the stocks in an order that
aids the user in going through the newspaper to enter new closing
prices.   If the stock names are entered in a consistent manner the
sorting routine will put them in Alphabetical order and also them by
market.   If there are a large number of stocks being tracked it is
best to use each data list for a different market.  For instance data
list #1 could be for the NYSE , data list #2 for the AMEX and data
list #3 for the OTC.   This would prevent having to changes pages in
the paper frequently.   If this is not done, the sorting routine will
place all of one market together in alphabetical order and all of
another market next also in alphabetical order.   It is a good idea to
use sort whenever a new stock is added to a data list,  do this before
entering the prices so it will be stored in the correct order after
the prices are entered.  It is not necessary to sort the stocks when
one is removed.

There is a second option on the STOCK MASTER (registered version)
called Sort All.  This option will load all stock information
contained in the three data lists (up to 90 stocks) and sort in both
alpha and market order.  It will the re-store the sorted list back
into 3 data lists with all blanks appearing at the end.   This makes
it even easier to get information for manual input each week.   Again,
the stocks should all be in the format described in the Add/Delete
section.   The sort routine can sort 90 stocks twice and handle 5000
pieces of associated data (prices, EPS etc.) in less than one minute.
The total time for loading, sorting and saving data will be less than
2 minutes on a turbo XT.
**********************************************************************


PRINT PRICE HISTORY:
This routine will print the names of 5 stocks at a time with the dates
and prices entered for each stock.  Five columns are printed then the
next five stocks are printed until all the stocks in the data list are
printed.  The printing automatically adjusts itself for the number of
price entries in order to save paper.   If you have some graphs
printed and want to know the actual prices this is the way to get
them.   The graph routine uses ASCII graphic characters and does not
present perfectly accurate price levels due to the graphic character
size being fixed.






There are several options available when printing these price
histories.  When asked to enter the number of the stock to be printed
you may enter a single number for one history, enter a range (i.e.  9-
14) to specify all stocks in that range, in this case 9,10,11,12,13
and 14  or enter the numbers of only the stocks you want, seperated by
commas such as 10,13,15,22 .    The other option is to print all
stocks in the list by pressing ENTER without a specified number.

Finally, you now have a choice with this version of printing to the screen.
**********************************************************************




SWITCH STOCK LIST:   This menu selection simply tell you which data
list you are in at present and allows you to change to another one.
If you accidently choose this and don't want to change just enter the
same number you are presently in and it will return to the MENU.

This section has been enhanced.  You can now print all the stock names
with columns for closing price, EPS and Timeliness ratings.  The EPS
(Earnings per share rank 1-99) is available from Investor's Daily and
is given for each stock.  It is a rating of a companies earnings
verses all other companies on the market.  A rating of 99 places the
company in the top 1% of all companies in earnings per share.   The
Timeliness rating can be obtained from Long Term Values, Daily Graphs
or Value Line.

These ratings are very useful but the EPS and Timeliness ratings do
not have to be entered for the program to work.   However, it will
work much better with them.
**********************************************************************



ENTER/UPDATE EPS & TIMELINESS:   This is where the EPS and Timeliness
ratings mentioned above are entered.  For each stock the present
rating will be displayed.  If there is no change, just press RETURN,
otherwise enter the new rating.

For TIMELINESS the ratings are A,B,C,D,E with "A" being the best and
"E" being the worst.   These ratings come from Long Term Values and
you may have to adjust another rating system to this one.

If no ratings are entered for EPS and TIMELINESS the program will
assume neutral ratings of EPS=70 and TIMELINESS=C.
**********************************************************************


The following restrictions to copying apply:
This program is made available on the Shareware concept.   Please do
not give copies of the registered version STOCK MASTER to anyone.   You
are encouraged to give a copy of the Public version STOCKMINDER to anyone
who asks and to upload to Bulletin Boards in you area.

                                          Thanks, Ron Lashley