ENPH chart review

from IBD: Sell And Take Profits In Top Growth Stocks, Or Hold? Several Guidelines To Follow

https://www.investors.com/how-to-invest/investors-corner/sell-and-take-profits-or-hold-here-are-several-guidelines-to-follow/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=SocialFlow%20Evergreen&utm_content=social

One: If the stock's 20% gain comes in the first two or three weeks after the breakout, then it should be held at least eight weeks — barring outright sell signals or a severely negative change in the market trend. True market leaders often get a fast start. You don't want to sell such a stock too early.

Two: If a market winner took longer to reach the 20% mark but has three quarters of EPS growth acceleration in a row, you might want to hold the stock.

Three: If the 20% gain came slowly and from a second-stage base or later, you should sell. Most big winners correct after a 20% to 25% gain. A third-stage base is prone to fail. So, why hold for that?

Four: If the gain came in an erratic fashion, sell. It doesn't matter if the stock or the general market is to blame. Such a stock is likely to move against you quickly.

Five: If you've taken a 7% or 8% lossrecently, then the bias tilts toward taking the profit in the 20% to 25% gainer. It's prudent to keep a 3-1 ratio between gains and losses. You can be right just once every four tries and still break even or make a small gain.

Six: If you've taken several 7% to 8% losses and have no stock up 20% to 25%, consider taking smaller profits to erase the losses. Then you should step back and study your buys and sells to determine the reason you are losing.

Finviz useful links

FINVIZ..PERFORMANCE: YTD 
https://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=141&f=ind_stocksonly,sh_curvol_o100,ta_change_u&ft=3&o=-perfytd

PERFORMANCE: YEAR https://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=141&f=ind_stocksonly,sh_curvol_o100,ta_change_u&ft=3&o=-perf52w

PERFORMANCE : 6 MONTHS https://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=141&f=ind_stocksonly,sh_curvol_o100,ta_change_u&ft=3&o=-perf26w

PERFORMANCE: QUARTER https://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=141&f=ind_stocksonly,sh_curvol_o100,ta_change_u&ft=3&o=-perf13w

PERFORMANCE: MONTH https://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=141&f=ind_stocksonly,sh_curvol_o100,ta_change_u&ft=3&o=-perf4w

PERFORMANCE: WEEK https://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=141&f=ind_stocksonly,sh_curvol_o100,ta_change_u&ft=3&o=-perf1w

MAGNA5

From Stockbee:

MAGNA5

MA massive earnings acceleration or massive sales acceleration or massive earnings surprise.

Massive = greater than 100% plus with EPS growth 100% plus growth on meaningful terms. 5 cents becoming 20 cents not 1 cents becoming 4 cents. 10 million revenue becoming 200 million not 10 million becoming 20 million

G gap up on earnings day of at least 4 % plus in after hours or pre market with at least 100k volume

N neglect or base of few months to years. low fund ownership

A sales acceleration of 25% plus preferable. Earnings growth without corresponding sales growth is questionable. But in turnaround situation this condition can be ignored

5 Short interest ratio or days short greater than 5 or 5 days

Entering and exiting NTRT trades

Enter after hours if you have high risk tolerance

Enter Pre market again risky as sometime the moves fade

Enter at open with 1 dollar stop

Enter after 15 minutes less risky but you might miss some gains.

Exit on trailing stops. I trail by 1 dollar and then 50 cents as stocks moves in my favor

Many of these moves fade later after first 1 hour or 2 hours

Some move continue for days.

List of growth orientated stocks on 2018-07-01

https://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=211&ft=3&t=NFLX,ABMD,ALGN,ICUI,QDEL,EQ,IART,INGN,NEOG,TCMD,GHDX,COO,ITGR,BAX,WMGI,CRM,NOW,UPLD,BAND,FIVN,RNG,EGAN,COUP,MODN,GDDY,WIX,APTI,ZEN,TLND,BABA,ETSY,AMZN,SFIX,W,KSS,MDSO,SLP,VEEV,TRHC,PANW,QLYS,FTNT,FB,TWTR,GRUB,GOOGL,GOOG,IAC,NEWR,DATA,OAS,EGN,WRD,PVAC,VNOM,FANG,CLR,EOG,WLL,PE,APC,LHCG,AMED,EHC,LULU,BURL,ROST,TJX,URBN,AEO,SCVL,TLYS,INTU,BKI,JKHY,EPAY,QTWO,LGND,SUPN,ENTA,RGNX,VNDA,HRTX,SURF,UMRX,APTX,MOR,AUTL,MED,WTW,USNA,TTD,TTGT,QNST,RP,TEAM,SPSC,APPF,TYL,HUBS,CSOD,YEXT,BL,ALTR,AVLR,HOME,MSA,AAXN,ISRG,OMCL,IDXX,HMSY,VCRA,PINC,ANSS,GOOS,COLM,VFC,LOPE,CHGG,SYX,NSIT,EXPO,CBZ,FCN,RECN,HQY,NSP,WNS,CTAS,ADP,TNET,PAYX,MTN,PLNT,MSG,CLUB,SIX,ILMN,PRAH,MEDP,MA,WEX,V,GDOT,PYPL,FLT,USAT,SQ,COP,GPRK,MUR,INXN,BEAT,NEO,NTAP,PSTG,ADBE,KFY,KFRC,CURO,ENVA,LEVL,MBUU,MCFT,PII,MRC,WHD,CSGP,SPGI,VRSK,DRI,SHAK,DPZ,BJRI,CMG,WING,SONC,VSH,SRI,LFUS,GLOB,EPAM,CNC,UNH,WCG,AMEH,ZBRA,IMMR,JAZZ,ZTS,UGI,SMBK,SBCF,SNV,OBNK,ETFC,LPLA,CHDN,AGS,CTS,TXN,DIOD,RBB,BOFI,SBT,SAIA,ARCB,POOL,ZTO,HUBG,ZPO,CYRX,HDS,HD,GWW,CADE,STXB,EFSC,MBIN,BWB,ONB,NOVT,KEYS,MSCI,TRU,INFO,CME,CLBK,MPWR,NVDA,MLNX,AMD,BOOM,NCS,SCHN,AAPL,MSI,KLXI,MRO,NXST,AMCX,RACE,FIVE,OLLI,TPIC,FNKO,OEC,KMG,MEOH,FNHC,MKC,RDWR,REXR,TRNO,EPRT,COLD,WWE,GTN,LSXMA,PETQ,HUD,SYY,MERC,BRKS,ORBK,RTEC,ENTG,LW,POST,NOMD,CPRT,ORLY,OKE,CQP,LNG,KL,RGLD,EQH,NJR,EXC,CCOI,TREX,PGTI,BCC,BLD,NEWM,FMC,PQG,ROAD,CF,PRMW,RUN,NAV&ta=0&o=-change

shakeout/accumulation/breakout pattern formed at bottom

Two example: BITA, SOGO.

IBD 50 INDEX

IBD 50 INDEX

The IBD 50 Index is a weekly, rules-based, computer-generated stock index that seeks to identify the current top 50 growth stocks.

https://www.zacks.com/funds/etf/FFTY/holding

EP, STIB and RSI power list for week 2018-02-12 to 2018-02-17

Weekly RSI >=65 and volume surge at least 50%

https://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=211&ft=3&ta=0&o=-change&t=CBIO,ATRA,SRNE,IO,ZFGN,HTGM,ADVM,VIRT,CRSP,ZN,RCAR,VKTX,FOSL,VIPS,BXC,CBAY,EGAN,NEPT,PTOTF,MNOV,LQDT,NVAX,USAK,KPTI,NKTR,PIRS,NYT,UIS,MTCH,CSRA,AMSYF,APPS,HLG,WBAI,AMBR,DPS,CALD,ABMD,PGEM,SHOP,FLDM,PRO,RPD,INST,COUP,INVA,TBK,NEWR,ANGI,HAE,IPG,WK,ASMB,OKTA,CHGG,NGLOY,ARES,WMS,MIME,MODN,ENSG,NOC,QTWO,MULE,TRHC,APTI,AMN,RIO,GOOS,LAYN,MSCI,CSCO,H,VRTU,IRTC,GIB,NTB,PAYC,CHDN,COLM,RDWR,VRNS,BMY,BYD,NSP,RST,RYN,PFSI,BR,RS,EXAC,GPN,RGS,NAVG,SEDG,SHLM,HII,JLL,CPRT,CSGS,MIII,CHH,CRM,HMC,KFRC,ZTS,SYNT,AMZN,X,TWTR,VRSN,WB,YNDX,HUBS,ETSY,RNG,QLYS,SODA,ENVA,QNST

compare SPX PE vs 10-year returns (zz from huaren by 盈盈一笑)

http://forums.huaren.us/showtopic.aspx?topicid=983820&page=104

zz from huaren by 盈盈一笑

我周末在微信上介绍了一种方法，大道至简，可能你没看见，我贴到这里供你参考：

问：没有股票经验，只想买指数做长期投资，如何判断买卖点？现在可以进吗？

这个问题最常见，答案也有很多，今天介绍一个最简单的方法，即以对比指数10年期回报和P/E ratio的关系。从下面的点阵图可以看出，一旦P/E ratio超过20以上，回报率很难超过10%甚至5%。P/Eratio越低买入指数的长期回报越高。

纵观标普过去百年走势，指数熊市最低时，P/E在5倍，最高在44倍。P/E均值大概在15倍。下图也可以看出，一旦P/E高达25倍以上，就会进入熊市，而牛市的起点通常从5倍至9倍起始。有意思的是，最近一次金融危机后的牛市从09年3月起，而那时的P/E RATIO是13倍。

因此，简单说来，以长期投资为目标的投资者，当等到P/E RATIO在15以下买入指数，并采取P/E RATIO越跌越买的策略，那么10年投资期的年回报率可以轻松达到10%以上，而总回报率可以收获300%或更高。

截至1月15号为止，标普目前的P/E 在23.82左右。

要注意的是，这个方法仅仅适用于持有至少3年以上的长期投资者，不能用来预测任何短期波动。

from IBD: Wait for a "follow-through day."

https://www.investors.com/ibd-university/market-timing/market-bottoms/

 IBD's ongoing study of every market cycle since 1880 has found that no bull market has ever started without a follow-through day. So instead of relying on hunches or predictions, wait for this time-tested signal to confirm the market has hit bottom and a new uptrend has begun.

A follow-through day indicates a rally attempt has succeeded, and the market direction has changed from a correction into a confirmed uptrend. It tells you it's time to start gradually buying stocks again.

Key Elements of a Follow-Through:

• New Low
  • When the market is in a downtrend, look for at least one of the major indexes (mainly the S&P 500 or Nasdaq Composite) to hit a new price low.
• Attempted Rally
  • After hitting a new low, look for a day when the index closes higher. That might mean the index has stopped its decline, established a new "bottom," and is on its way to a rebound.
  • But one up day isn't enough to tell if the market trend has truly changed. So we count that as Day 1 of an attempted rally.
  • From there, as long as the index stays above the previous low, the attempted rally remains in place.
• Follow-Through Day: Big Gain in Rising Volume
• A follow-through day indicates the attempted rally has succeeded.
• To count as a follow-through day, at least one major index needs to close up 1.25% or higher in volume heavier than the prior day. Volume does NOT have to be above average; just higher than the prior day.
• Follow-throughs typically occur anytime from Day 4 or later in the attempted rally. They can happen as early as Day 3, but the first three days are usually too soon to confirm a new uptrend.

• Get Back in Gradually After a Follow-Through Day

  Not every follow-through day leads to a big, sustained uptrend. About 25% - 30% will fail, and the market will quickly fall back into a correction. That's why you want to get back into the market gradually when a follow-through day occurs and the Market Pulse shifts from "Market in correction" to "Confirmed uptrend."
  If the uptrend takes hold and leading CAN SLIM® stocks start to move higher on heavy buying by institutional investors, you can start to get in more aggressively. If the uptrend fails, follow your sell rules and move safely back to the sidelines.
  Watch Out for Distribution Days
  If you see distribution days within just a few days after the follow-through, look out! It could mean the nascent uptrend is not taking hold and will quickly fall back into a correction. Regularly check the Market Pulse for the current distribution day count and any alerts to changes in trend.

From IBD: What Would Signal A Stock Market Rally?

What Would Signal A Stock Market Rally?

https://www.investors.com/news/stock-market-correction-what-to-do/

For a return to a confirmed market uptrend, look for the major averages to rebound over several days, with at least some strong gains in heavy volume. As Tuesday's rebound showed, one good day isn't enough.

If stocks rebound quickly in volume, then the major averages hitting new highs would likely trigger a market uptrend call.

If the stock market holds in a correction for an extended period, look for a rally attempt to be confirmed by one or more price gains in heavy volume in at least one of the major averages.

The Dow industrials get a lot of popular attention, but the index represents only 30 stocks. The broader Nasdaq composite and S&P 500 index are usually the gauges you should focus on.

Another confirming sign of a market uptrend will be if leading stocks break out of bases into buy zones. If there's nothing to buy, the market may be telling you it's too soon to return.

some quotes

It's not whether your're right or wrong that's important, but how much money you make when you are right and how much money you lose when you are wrong.

the way to build superior long-term returns is  through preservation of capital and home runs.. when you have tremendous conviction on a trade, you have to go for the jugular. it takes courange to be a pig - Stanley Duckenmiller

Once you’ve had this new influx of “new money,” the most important thing you can do, is trade it and protect it like it was your original starting capital.

If you’ve traded it like it was your original capital, and not the market’s money for you to gamble with, then you will hit another big winning trade the next time..

watchlist 2018-01-08 to 2018-01-14

EP

https://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=211&ft=3&ta=0&o=-change&t=ABAX,ACOR,AFSI,AGIO,AGN,ALB,ALDR,ALGN,AMRH,AMSC,AMZN,ANET,APHQF,APPN,ARWR,ATUS,AXGN,BA,BCO,BPT,BSX,BUDZ,CANN,CBDS,CBPX,CCLP,CHRS,CLF,CMCM,CNET,CPAH,CROX,CRSP,CTMX,DPLO,DST,EA,EMES,EPZM,EXXI,FOLD,FSLR,GALT,GBT,GOOG,GOOGL,GRWG,GSUM,GSVC,HCI,HMNY,HRTX,IIPR,ILMN,IMGN,IMMU,INSY,IO,IPGP,IRWD,ISRG,JP,KALA,KBH,KNDI,KODK,KSHB,LBCC,LONE,MARK,MDXG,MFIN,MHLD,MNTA,MRAM,MRTX,MTEM,MTN,MTRX,MYOK,NERV,NKTR,NR,NVDA,NVRO,OLED,OSTK,PBI,PODD,PRGS,PRMCF,PRTY,PTCT,PTIE,PTLA,PXD,RYI,SAGE,SBGI,SGY,SKY,SND,SNDX,SPWR,SRAX,SSNC,SXC,TELL,TEVA,TGTX,TRUP,TRVG,TSLA,TTOO,TWMJF,URI,VIPS,VOXX,VSI,VUZI,WING,WTW,XNET,YY

watchlist for end of Dec2017 close cross above the 12 month SMA

The below watchlist listed all stocks which had end of Dec2017 close cross above the 12 month simple moving average.

https://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=211&ft=3&t=NETE,CANN,NXTD,CBIO,OHRP,CNAB,MNTR,TEUM,BETR,CBDS,MARA,ACAN,WATT,NOG,AMMJ,VRA,SRNE,SPWH,DNR,UEC,EXPR,KND,GNRT,RGC,TTI,QHC,TIME,LB,ZOES,GLNG,X,GTE,CENX,AREX,KR,AKAM,CCRC,FOX,TCO,CHUY,FOXA,DVA,TWI,COTY,SCVL,CRR,NCS,SFM,HP,SBGI,NXEO,ERJ,NTGR,BRS,MIK,MSM,SSTK,AUY,VIRT,RSPP,ALGT,SPWR,ABC,FTI,HK,MNRO,MXWL,SIGM,FLWS,AZO,BTG,DDS,FLR,OPHT,PXD,GORO,UEPS,SM,AAXN,JBLU,DVN,GIS,JWN,NUE,STX,PTEN,MIDD,ADRNY,SONC,KANG,HRL,ORLY,LIVE,MANH,MO,MYRG,ADS,CLB,DPS,GGB,HDS,KNL,RGR,TCS,TPR,UNT,DB,TK,MKTX,SAIC,CAG,GEF,GLT,MAC,TRQ,KOSS,CDZI,TXMD,HURN,VUZI,ERIC,ARNC,ATRA,JNPR,FFIV,DLX,BXBLY,HLX,MXL,HAIN,PF,DOOR,ACXM,ARII,DCP,GGP,PRO,PTR,RPT,SBS,TJX,OZRK,ABAX,CMP,GPC,PAC,PLT,REG,SPG,WMB,GLOP,PRMW,UNVR,CL,ARES,BGR,BMS,ETJ,RLJ,BSBR,VET,PG,UE,SBUX,OGZPY,BTI,BXP,DRH,FRT,HPT,NNN,PEO,RDI,SD,RCII,ECOL,WEYS,FMX,WRI,AMED,NEA,CINF,IDRA,NRT,MYL,ESRX,HCA,MCK,HOLX,UTHR,PCRX,RHHBY&ta=0&o=-change

Year 2017 losing trades review

1. pay attention to the trendline for short term support and resistance. If stock broke trendline, it was necessary to close position. When in doubt, get out.

2. where to put stop? If to take small loss, then put stock at the low of the trendline. Otherwise, put stock at the low of the breakout bar or the low of the consolidation pattern.

3. position sizing.

4. option trade: when stock do not work immediately after bought and broke trendline, is it a good idea to continue hold waiting for the trend reverse over a few weeks, or cut loss immediately?

5. It is necessary to take risk to bet when this is a good pattern. The key is to take quick and small loss. Do not let the loss become big to hurt portfolio. In long run, the momentum breakout strategy works as long as the more bet and have small losses.

6-month Relative Strength

https://www.stockopedia.com/ratios/relative-strength-6-months-769/

What is the definition of RS 6m?

6 month Relative Strength measures a stock's price change over the last 6 months relative to the price change of a market index. It shows the relative outperformance or underperformance of the stock in that timeframe. Different benchmarks are used for different geographic markets which can be reviewed here.

It is calculated dividing the price change of a stock by the price change of the index for the same time period. e.g. A stock falling by 20% versus an index rising 20% would lead to a Relative strength calculation of 100 * ( 80/120 - 1) = -33%

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In Telechart this can be done easily using Price Percent Change 26-Week which is a System sort criteria. The Telechart pcf for it is: 100*(c-c126)/c12The easy way to calculate relative strength is by calculating 6 month price change and ranking ETF by it. In Telechart this can be done easily using Price Percent Change 26-Week which is a System sort criteria. The Telechart pcf for it is: 100*(c-c126)/c126.

Another better way to rank ETF by 6 month relative strength is by calculating ROC as a ratio of price to six month average price. The advantage of this approach is it uses average price of last 6 month as against a one price point of six month ago price in earlier ROC calculation. In Telechart this is easy to do using a PCF like c/avgc126.6.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/trading/08/relative-strength.asp

https://stockbee.blogspot.com/2010/09/top-25-etf-by-six-month-relative.html

Stock list on 2017-12-24

Stocks within 3% of rising 50MA + STI>=1.04 + stock in uptrend

https://finviz.com/screener.ashx?v=211&ft=3&t=RH,WING,SYNT,STML,TREX,TRUP,HZO,MHO,MTG,RDN,WLH,RDWR,ANIP,SGMS,AIR,ORBK,MOH,SSD,CECO,CMPR,VRNS,ESNT,COT,IGT,KIRK,TDY,ZEN,TWOU,TYPE,UFPI,HRTG,AN,MTRN,ISCA,SBCF,FARO,FICO,ABG,ADC,STRL,BST,CDR,CMP,DEA,DLB,GTS,HGV,HLS,LSI,MTW,PEB,RPD,KLIC,SHO,TILE,VGR,WNS,WSR,CCMP,GTLS,CLDT,CSGS,CUBE,UNVR&ta=0&o=-change&r=49

PEAD continuation

if a stock had follow trough from breakout bar, it tends to outperform in the coming days to have the up-trend.

15/40 guide

Within 15 days of technical breakout, a stock should have either 1. digestion 2. shake out or 3. revisit.

A winner after breakout should have digestion or revisit within 15 days, then continue the trend from 15 days to 40 days.

Within 15 days after breakout, we should have profit. Between 15-days and 40-days, a stock is expected to have digestion or shakeout. If a stock acted as normal as as expected, we should hold the stock for 40 days.

Use AMBA back to 10/28/2014 chart as example.

Some marketsmith glossory

CAN SLIM Investment System

CAN SLIM® Investment System
Acronym for investment system developed by MarketSmith founder, William J. O'Neil. The CAN SLIM® Investment System is based on the seven common characteristics found in his study of the greatest stock market winners of the last 45 years and is detailed in Mr. O'Neil's book, How to Make Money in Stocks.

C = Current Earnings Growth
A = Annual Earnings Growth
N = New Products, New Services, New Management, New Price Highs
S  = Supply & Demand
L  = Leader or Laggard
I   = Institutional Sponsorship
M = Market

Corporate Event

Abbreviation of a corporate event will appear near the price line with an arrow indicating the date it occurred.

• ASE = Date stock switched to listed exchange
• CO = Cash offer
• IPO = Initial public offering
• NEW = New issue and price
• PM = Proposed merger
• PO = Primary offer
• PPO = Proposed primary offering
• PSO = Proposed secondary offering
• PSOF = Partial spin-off
• REORG = Reorganization
• SDIS = Stock distribution
• SO = Secondary offer
• SOF = Spin-off
• TO = Tender offer
• $DIS = Cash distribution

Denotation Marks

Marks, symbols, and characters presented on the graphs indicate additional meaning or significance.

* - A blue asterisk next to Fiscal Quarter date indicates quarterly earnings were reported within the last 15 calendar days.
* - A red asterisk next to EPS Due indicates earnings expect to be reported within the next 4 weeks. Date shown reflects reported date of same quarter in previous year.
* - A red asterisk to the left of the Daily chart volume scale indicates at least one of the following statements are true:

• Volume was at its highest level in the last 52-weeks; or
• Volume was at least 100% greater than its 50-day average volume.

%XA9 - A copyright symbol indicates the company has convertible issues (bonds, preferreds or options).
# - A pound sign in the Quarterly Sales/EPS Data Box, next to the EPS % change item, denotes figure is based on an absolute difference (the comparison quarter figure is negative).
A blue triangle to the right of the EPS figure in the Six-Year Annual Earnings Data Box, denotes pre-tax, non-recurring item(s) could not be excluded from the final EPS figure.
A blue triangle to the right of the EPS figure in the Quarterly Sales/EPS Data Box, denotes pre-tax, non-recurring item(s) could not be excluded from the EPS figure.
A colored triangle to the right of the Annual Earnings Estimates (Weekly chart) indicates annual earnings estimates were revised from our previously published consensus earnings estimate. This colored triangle updates overnight after Friday's close.

• An upward pointing green triangle indicates an increase in the EPS estimate.
• A downward pointing red triangle indicates a decrease in the EPS estimate.

(w) - Indicates the company has warrants outstanding.

EPS Growth Rate, 3-5 Year

This item is calculated by using a least squares regression fit over a 3-to-5 year period of earnings per share based on a trailing four-quarter count. For example, if a stock is currently in its second quarter, the first period used in this calculation will consist of the sum of Q2 + Q1 (of the current fiscal year) plus Q4 +Q3 (of the prior fiscal year). Each successive period will be based on the next trailing four quarters of earnings per share.

The amount of time used to calculate the Growth Rate is based on two factors:

• Availability of data
• Positive earnings

If a stock does not have at least three years of positive earnings (based on the trailing four-quarter method noted above), an "N/A" will appear.

The amount of time used for this calculation will consist of at least three years but no more than five years of positive earnings per share. If a four-quarter period sum is negative, that period and additional earnings further back in time, will not be used in the calculation of this data item.

Flat Base

One of three positive chart patterns to look for when doing technical analysis. It usually occurs after a stock has advanced off of a 'cup with handle' or 'double bottom' pattern. The 'flat base' moves straight sideways in a fairly tight price range for at least five weeks and does not correct more than 8% to 12%.

Pivot Point (Buy Point)

Optimal buy point of a stock as it emerges from a sound and proper basing area or chart pattern (the most common of which include the 'cup with handle,' 'flat base' and 'double bottom') and breaks out into a new high in price. This is the point of least resistance and has shown, through William J. O'Neil's research, to have the greatest chance of moving substantially higher based on its current and historical price and volume activity.

Price/Earnings (P/E) Ratio

Theoretically measures the value of a stock by dividing the current price by its earnings per share over the last twelve months. When a stock's P/E ratio is high, it is considered by the majority of investors to be pricey or overvalued. Stocks with low P/Es are typically considered a good value. However, through his studies of the biggest stock market winners, William J. O'Neil found the opposite to be true: the higher the P/E, the better the stock. The average P/E of the best winners over the last fifteen years at the initial buy point prior to their huge price increases was 31 times earnings. These P/Es went on to expand more than 100% to over 70 times earnings as the stocks significantly increased in price.

Price/Earnings (P/E) Ratio, 5-Year Low/High Range

Represents the lowest and highest Price/Earnings Ratio range a stock experiences over a period of up to 5 years. A P/E ratio is derived by dividing a closing price by the summation of the latest four quarters of earnings. To obtain the five year range, up to 20 quarters are used for this calculation. All figures are adjusted for stock splits. 

Companies that report Funds From Operations will note this data item as "5 YR P/F" in place of "5 YR P/E".

Price/Earnings (P/E) Ratio, Current and Relative to S&P500

Current price-to-earnings ratio and its relation to the P/E ratio of the stocks making up the S&P500 index. The P/E ratio is computed daily using the most recent closing price and the latest trailing 12 months of earnings. Stocks with a P/E ratio of 300 or greater are considered statistical outliers and are excluded from this calculation. A measure of "1.5xSP" means the stock's P/E ratio is 50% above the P/E ratio of the S&P 500 index. 

For companies reporting Funds From Operations, this figure is presented as "P/F". Relative value with the P/E of S&P500 index is not presented as fund from operations results is not directly comparable to earnings per share data.

Price/Earnings (P/E) Ratio, Quarterly High/Low Range

Calculated by dividing the company's highest and lowest prices for the quarter by the latest trailing 12-months of earnings. Companies that report Funds From Operations will present this data as "P/F" instead of "P/E".

Relative Price Strength (RS) Rating or Relative Strength

One of our exclusive proprietary ratings that measures each stock's price performance over a twelve-month period, compared to all other stocks in our database. To emphasize recent price performance, a 40% weighting is assigned to the most recent quarter (three months) results, with the remaining three quarters each receiving a 20% weighting in the calculation.

Relative Strength Ratings value ranges from 1 to 99 (highest). A relative strength rating of 89 indicates the stock has outperformed 89% of all other stocks in the database.

Initial Public Offering (IPO) stocks are temporarily assigned a "1" rating value until the data from five trading sessions are available for its initial calculation.

Relative Strength (RS) Line

The relative strength line compares a stock's price performance versus the S&P 500. Many charting services plot a RS Line along with the stock's price, moving averages, etc. The line is derived by dividing the stock price by the S&P 500 Index value. An upward sloping line means that the stock's price is outperforming the S&P 500 Index.

Return on Equity (ROE)

Presented as a percentage figure, it is derived by dividing annual income (before extraordinary items, discontinued operations, cumulative accounting adjustments and non-recurring items) by an average of the latest fiscal year and the prior year's stockholders' equity. Brackets [ ] will surround the ROE percentage if the net income being used to derive the data is not from the most recently completed fiscal year; it will subsequently indicate which year the percentage figure corresponds to. 

As an indicator of a company's financial performance, ROE measures how efficient a company is with its money. The biggest stock market winners historically showed an ROE of 17% to 50% before they made their huge gains.

Sales + Profit Margins + ROE (SMR) Rating®

One of our exclusive proprietary ratings; this proprietary rating was developed to help investors identify companies with superior (S)ales Growth, Profit (M)argins, and (R)eturn on Equity ratios. This data item combines into one simple "A" to "E" rating system, four fundamental factors used by analysts:

• Sales growth rate over the last three quarters
• Pre-tax profit margins
• After-tax profit margins
• Return on equity (ROE)

Sales growth and after-tax margins are computed with quarterly figures, while return on equity and pre-tax margins are calculated using annual figures. All four factors take in to account the acceleration of the variables (rate of increase).
The rating system is weighted in the following manner:

• A = Top 20% (Outperforming over 80% of other stocks)
• B = Next 20% (Outperforming 60%-80% of other stocks)
• C = Next 20% (Outperforming 40%-60% of other stocks)
• D = Next 20% (Outperforming 20%-40% of other stocks)
• E = Bottom 20% (Outperformed by over 80% of other stocks)

Short Interest

The total number of shares of any stock that have been sold short and not yet repurchased to close out short positions.

Short Interest Ratio

Indicates the number of days it would take short-sellers to cover their positions. Short interest ratio includes two components; trading days required to cover short interest, and total volume percentage change. Both numbers are based on volume reports released by the major exchanges bi-monthly.

The number of days required to cover short interest is based on the latest short interest report volume number divided by the current 50-day average volume. This data item is updated every evening to reflect the change in the 50-day average volume.

The volume percentage change data item is based on change of the most recent short interest volume number versus the previous month's short interest figure. This data item corresponds to the Percentage Change data item listed in each of our three Short Interest Reports. 

SmartSelect Corporate Ratings

Six proprietary and exclusive research ratings based on over 50 years of historical research of the characteristics of the top performing stocks before their big moves. These ratings are designed to screen out deficient stocks, identify potential market leaders, save time, and significantly improve stock selection. They include:

• Earnings Per Share (EPS) Rating®
• Relative Price Strength (RS) Rating®
• Industry Group Relative Strength Rating®
• Sales+Profit Margins+ROE (SMR) Rating®
• Accumulation/Distribution Rating (Acc/Dis Ratintg®)
• Composite Rating®
• Sponsorship Rating
  A unique proprietary rating found in the Weekly Chart that helps investors determine if a company's stock is owned by the better-performing mutual funds. Its calculation averages 3-year performance of all mutual funds owning the stock. The rating scale ranges from "A" to "E" (A=Best, E=Worst). An "N/A" appears if not enough data is available to calculate a rating.

Up/Down Volume Ratio

A 50-day ratio that is derived by dividing total volume on up days by the total volume on down days. A ratio greater than 1.0 implies positive demand for a stock.

Yield

This figure represents the relationship of an annualized dividend to a stock's price. To create this figure, we "annualized" (multiply by pay frequency) the most recently paid dividend and divide it by the prior day's closing price.