ST DA
there's something i wanted clarity on for quite sometime. its about the put-call ratio (PCR).
how does it help in gauging the market trend?
if a PCR is above 1, what does it indicate?( bearish/ bullish and why or how?)
if it is at 1 what is the indication and similarly for PCR below 1.
it would be enlightening if you could throw some light on this. i had downloaded a PCR data excel sheet from another thread in Traderji,( can upload it here if anyone wants) and am unable to make head and tail out of the readings i see in it.
thanks
hari
Put-call ratio is simply the number of puts traded in a day devided by number of calls traded on that same day. Normally options are grouped into similar catagories when calculating the ratio.The examples are an index options put-call ratio ,equity only put call ratio,gold option put-call ratio etc.
Put-call ratio ( PCR) is known to be a very valuable
contrary indicator. When too many people are bullish ( they are buying too many calls ) market is generally at the top of the move as majority opinion will always be wrong...PCR is a bit noisy indicator and thus a 21 day,34day or 55 day moving average of the PCR will give a smoother curve.
It may be noted that whenever an index option is heavily traded by hedgers and arbitrageurs,its usegulness as contrary indicator wanes....in this case stock PCR do a better job in predicting market turns.
You can work on your data on the above lines and see if it makes sense....it may give indication of market swing tops/bottoms in a general way...but I have not found it to be very useful with pinpoint accuracy we need for our short term trading of 1-3 days holding period....
Best Wishes,
Smart_trade