This article was originally published in The Option Strategist Newsletter Volume 19, No. 10-11 on June 3, 2010.
In some of our recent hotlines and daily commentaries, we have referred to the total put-call ratio as something that can be useful when extreme selling occurs. It is not a sophisticated measure (as the equity-only is, for example), because it is merely the total of listed puts traded that day divided by the total of listed calls. This includes all volume on the option exchanges regulated by the SEC – CBOE, AMEX, ISE, BOX, PHLX, NYSE – but not any futures options traded on futures exchanges.
