SOFTWARE PROFILE - ATARI STOCK & BOND ANALYSIS
By Peter Pappas

With the recent developments in the computer field, it was only a matter of time before they would become available to the small businessman. ATARI has created a line of programs for their 800 computer system, which more than meet the needs of a businessman who could use a more organized system of investment analysis. ATARI's Investment Analysis Series of programs can be used by the small businessman or firm, to provide them with a personal analysis of current investments and to assist the individual in determining which investments to make in the future. The Bond Analysis and Stock Analysis programs are two facets of this program series.

The Bond Analysis program will allow the business minded investor to "study and calculate bond investments." The program provides the individual with a graphic listing of his investments including their net return or loss and cash value, annual coupon in dollars, the redemption value, maturity and yield, and tax yields utilizing normal income and capital gains rates. These programs base their information on the actual bond information which you provide. While the Bond Analysis program provides you with an analysis or projected pattern for bonds, the Stock program performs roughly the same task for your stock portfolio. This program will provide you with a portfolio analysis using statistical measures of return, deviations between stocks, rates of returns of stocks over a given period of time and a projected analysis of your stock's intrinsic value and growth rate. Both of these programs take your information and project it over a period of time, thus providing you with a chance to alter your investment picture before it becomes too late. Aspects of the actual economy do not affect the computer's analysis of either your bond or stock portfolio. Therefore, the careful investor should only use these aids in investment analysis as a part of a total investment analysis package. These programs are not intended to offer the investor advice; their only intention is to provide the investor with an accurate calculation of (a) his net return or loss, cash value, price and accrued interest and the before and after tax yield of a given bond, (b) the arithmetic mean and standard deviation, annual rates of return and the intrinsic value of your stocks. All of the computer's information is based on the investor's stocks and bonds. Extraneous material is not taken into account in this program.

As a final note, it is important that the investor understand exactly the data which these two programs provide. Utilizing the ATARI 800 computer, these programs provide an analysis of either a stock or bond. They do not project the future for your portfolio. They can not tell you whether your stock will split or fall. All these programs do is

provide the user with a means through which he can compare different portfolios in a simple and accurate format which will also provide him with certain consequential calculations. Therefore, if you're in need of a means with which you can organize, analyze, and compute certain information for investment and tax purposes, then the ATARI Investment analysis program series should fit all your investment analysis needs. 

 

SOFTWARE REVIEW - ATARI MAILING LIST

ATARI's Mailing List program is a fine home based address keeper and sorter. It is cassette based saving and loading 'files' to and from the 410 recorder. However, by deleting two lines in the program, the built in disk file routines are made available to the user, allowing the names and addresses to now be stored and retrieved on the 810/815. There are 9 lines per file to be filled in for name, address, zip code, telephone, and one last line for any extra note or message you may want to add.

The nicest feature on Mailing List is the ability to sort the files from any field you choose. A field can be last names, middle initials, area codes, or any of the nine lines of data you supplied the computer. For example, if the zip code field is chosen for sorting, the program will run through its memory selecting those names/addresses with the same zip as the one you input; or you can tell the computer to list all those names with zip codes greater than the one you input, lesser than, or all zips but the one you picked. This will take longer to do as the files it must search through increase in number. Besides numerical sorting, the computer can sort alphabetically. Suppose you need all the names starting with the letter W. Type in 'Last Name' for the field, then the letter 'B'. Then, when prompted by the computer, 'LT' (for less than) and the program will search through memory selecting only those names with the 'A' for the first character.

Another variation on the program cassette's other side allows you to set up your own 'field' labels. Instead as Name, you can call it 'Part Number'. Replace 'Street' with 'Item', etc., and you can use this Mailing List program as a small inventory filer!

Two methods of hardcopy printing are included, these being mailing label format and a listing of all the data in a certain file. Mailing label format will print everything but the telephone number and your extra added note. You can also select what to print - either all or just some of the files in memory. For a home mailing list application this program will fill the needs more than adequately (available on cassette for $19.95 list, requires 24K RAM + 410 Recorder).