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To: Cynic 2005 who wrote (4434)	8/27/1998 10:10:00 AM
From: yard_man	Respond to of 86076

Message 5601555

To: Cynic 2005 who wrote (4434)	8/27/1998 10:11:00 AM
From: yard_man	Respond to of 86076

older item -- just for fun: Friday August 21, 5:35 pm Eastern Time US OPTIONS/High put-call ratio seen helping stocks CHICAGO, Aug 21 (Reuters) - A panic-like activity in put options might be a saving grace for the U.S. stock market, which has been pummeled by ever growing concerns over Asia and Russia on Friday, traders said. The put/call ratio for individual equity options on the Chicago Board Options Exchange -- the world's largest equity options bourse -- spiked up to 1.27 as of 1230 CDT/1730 GMT, the highest level in years. ''The equity ratio is at a level not seen (but) once or twice in a decade,'' said Jay Shartsis, director of options trading at R.F. Lafferty & Co. ''It's an extremely high number, indicating panic,'' he noted. The ratio is regarded as a contrarian directional indicator for the market and a level around 0.50 -- two calls traded for every put -- is usually considered neutral. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI - news) fell more than 280 points to a low of 8328.20 at one point before clawing back above 8400 in mid-afternoon. Market-watchers noted that the ratio been fairly high lately as the market's steep drop from July highs began to bump against support but that the spike up today was exceptional. ''That's way off the charts,'' Joe Sunderman, an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research, of today's put/call ratio. Chris Cadbury, publisher of Cadbury Fax Service, added that the put activity, combined with the strong support the market has bounced off of in the last few weeks, was very positive. The S&P 500 index (^SPX - news) has, for instance, bounced off its 200-day moving average four times, he said. The index fell nearly 37 points to a low of 1054.92 earlier, just below the 200-day average, which came in today at 1055.79. The S&P 100 index (^OEX - news) has also found solid support in the 520-area. Cadbury added that sentiment indicators, most of which have been contrarian signals, generally showed a lack of bullish speculation. "It looks like we're trying to put in a bottom," he said. ''It's so interesting the way the market has come down,'' he observed. ''In a sustained bear market, volume is light and movement is slow. This time around, it's fast with heavy volume -- it looks very much like a bull market correction.'' Traders added that today's August option expiration might have exacerbated the panic, helping a shakeout of the wrong-way crowd. Short-dated options have high gamma, the premium acceleration rate against stock price movements, and premiums on one-day options can swing wildly. OEX August 535 puts, for instance, saw their premium explode up to a high of 14-3/4 early from Thursday's 1-1/2 close and then shrink back to around 4-1/2 in late trade. ''That's the kind of stuff that gets weak people out in a hurry,'' Cadbury said, adding that the selloff began in overseas markets and U.S. stocks were merely following them. ''When there's a lot of bearishness, it's likely to turn up,'' he said.

To: Cynic 2005 who wrote (4434)	8/27/1998 11:08:00 AM
From: HH	Respond to of 86076

More veneer off the KO story; Coca-Cola Shares Fall Amid Concerns in International Markets Atlanta, Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Coca-Cola Co. shares fell as much as 4 percent amid continued concerns about the economies in some of the world's largest beverage company's international markets. Shares of Atlanta-based Coca-Cola fell 3 to 76 3/16 in early trading of 1.02 million, compared with the three-month daily average of 3.17 million. Earlier, the stock touched 76. Coca-Cola gets 70 percent of its sales and nearly 80 percent of its profit from international operations. In the past, Coca- Cola has been able to overcome weak economies in one region with strong economies in other areas. With so many economies and currencies weakening, the company hasn't been able to use that strategy this time. ''Coca-Cola is a great company, but they're not immune,'' said Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst Douglas Lane, who lowered Coca- Cola to ''neutral'' from ''accumulate.'' ''We're just waving a red flag that there's a risk here.'' The outlook for Mexico, Coca-Cola's No. 2 market behind the United States, is deteriorating, said Lane. And the risk of currency devaluations in Brazil, China and Venezuela, other top Coke markets, is rising, he added. ''People have to factor in a little bit more difficult environment than they have,'' said Lane. 10:08:21 08/27/1998 Any redistribution of Bloomberg content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Bloomberg L.P. Any reference to the material must be properly attributed to Bloomberg News. The information herein was obtained from sources which Bloomberg L.P. and its suppliers believe reliable, but they do not guarantee its accuracy. Neither the information, nor any opinion expressed, constitutes a solicitation of the purchase or sale of any securities or commodities.(C) Copyright 1998 Bloomberg L.P. BLOOMBERG, Bloomberg News, Bloomberg Financial Markets, Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg News Radio are trademarks, tradenames and service marks of Bloomberg L.P.