Stock Market Barometers

Fundamental and technical indicators of the market’s health

Key indexes vs. their 200-day moving averages:

A stock index’s 200-day moving average indicates the basic trend, up or down. It is generally bullish if the index stays above the average.

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S&P; 500 (blue chip stocks): Friday: 1,100.65

200-day moving average: 1,016.14

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Russell 2,000 index (Smaller stocks): Friday: 450.85

200-day moving average: 450.85

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Price-to-earnings ratio of Standard & Poor’s 500: 24.24*

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

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Dividend yield of the Standard & Poor’s 500: 1.45%

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

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Weekly new highs vs. new lows on the NYSE: 159/454

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

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Investment newsletter sentiment:

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June 12 Friday Bullish: 41.7% 42.1% Bearish: 31.7 33.3 Correction: 26.6 24.6

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Stocks’ near-term trend as predicted by 135 independent investment newsletters, weekly survey by Investors Intelligence. The data are often viewed as a contrarian indicator: A rising percentage of bulls can signal a topping market.

* Now calculated based on operating earnings, which exclude one-time charges--so P/E is lower than if actual earnings were used.

Source: A.G. Edwards & Sons. More information can be found at https://www.agedwards.com on the World Wide Web.