"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.