# Bullish Percent Index Also known as: BPI, bullish percent, NYSE Bullish Percent Index, Nasdaq Bullish Percent Index, sector bullish percent. A Breadth, Sentiment & External Data reference entry (Breadth) in the LuxAlgo Library: explained, not implemented as a chart indicator. ## What is the Bullish Percent Index? The Bullish Percent Index (BPI) is the percentage of an index's members whose most recent [point-and-figure](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/point-and-figure/) signal is a buy, a breadth gauge read against 70% and 30% zones and charted with point-and-figure reversals of its own. On a standard three-box reversal chart, a stock is on a buy signal from the moment an X column rises above the prior X column's high until an O column falls below the prior O column's low. Abe Cohen developed the indicator in the mid-1950s, originally on New York Stock Exchange issues, while editor of ChartCraft, the service later known as Investors Intelligence. Earl Blumenthal and Mike Burke refined its signal rules in the 1970s and 1980s, and Thomas Dorsey's Point & Figure Charting (1995) carried it to a wider audience. Versions are published for indexes, sectors and industry groups, such as StockCharts' $BPNYA for the NYSE and $BPCOMPQ for the Nasdaq. Reading conventions come from P&F practice: above 70% is overbought, below 30% oversold, and 50% divides bullish from bearish control. The BPI itself is plotted on a P&F chart with 2% boxes and a three-box reversal, so it changes column only on a 6-point swing, and its position on that chart is described with six named states. Because each member's signal flips only after a meaningful price move, the BPI is slower and steadier than daily breadth counts, and every member votes equally regardless of size. It measures participation, not momentum: it can sit above 70% for months in a broad advance, and no rigorous public study shows its zones time markets on their own. ## How to read the Bullish Percent Index Read the BPI as a point-and-figure chart of its own and name its state: 1. Bull Alert: the BPI was below 30% and turns up into a new column of X's. 2. Bear Alert: the BPI was above 70% and turns down into a column of O's that falls below 70%. 3. Bull Confirmed or Bear Confirmed: the BPI is on its own P&F buy (or sell) signal and moving in that direction. 4. Bull Correction or Bear Correction: the BPI is on a buy (or sell) signal but currently moving against it. ## Why there's no indicator for this The BPI cannot be rebuilt from an index's own candles. Its input is the signal state of every member's point-and-figure chart: hundreds of separate P&F charts, each with its own box size, each tracked for its latest buy or sell signal. Box-size conventions differ between vendors, so two published BPIs for the same index can disagree. Where the BPI is charted, it is a series computed and published upstream by a data vendor. Related breadth series, such as the [percentage of stocks above a moving average](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/percent-stocks-above-20-50-200-day-ma/), share the equal-vote construction with a simpler member test; they are companions, not substitutes, and their zones do not transfer. ## How traders use it - As an exposure dial: P&F practitioners lean offensive while the index BPI rises in X's and defensive while it falls in O's, adjusting risk rather than calling exact turns. - Oversold reversals: Bull Alerts from below 30% mark washed-out participation turning up, conditions in which [breadth thrusts](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/breadth-thrusts/) also tend to appear. - Sector rotation: ranking sector BPIs shows where participation is building or draining beneath the index reading. - Cross-checks: a Bear Alert alongside weakening [advance/decline internals](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/advance-decline-internals/) and a rising [distribution day count](https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/distribution-days/) describes the same deterioration from three angles. ## Bullish Percent Index vs related breadth gauges - **% Stocks Above 20/50/200-day MA** (https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/percent-stocks-above-20-50-200-day-ma/): Both are equal-vote diffusion indexes over the same members. Percent-above tests each stock against its own moving average and moves daily; the BPI tests each stock's P&F signal, which flips only after a full reversal, so it ignores small swings. - **Point & Figure** (https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/point-and-figure/): The charting method. The BPI is built from it twice over: its inputs are each member's P&F signal, and it is displayed on a P&F chart of its own. - **Advance/decline Internals** (https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/advance-decline-internals/): A/D counts who closed up or down today, a daily flow measure. The BPI counts who is on a buy signal, a state that persists until each member's chart reverses. ## FAQ ### What does a Bullish Percent Index above 70% mean? That more than 70% of the members are on point-and-figure buy signals, the conventional overbought zone. It does not mean the market must fall; broad advances can hold the BPI high for months. The traditional warning is a reversal down from above 70% that breaks back under it, the Bear Alert. ### Who created the Bullish Percent Index? Abe Cohen, in the mid-1950s at ChartCraft, the point-and-figure service later known as Investors Intelligence. Earl Blumenthal and Mike Burke refined its signals, and Thomas Dorsey's Point & Figure Charting (1995) popularized it with a later generation of traders. ### Why is the BPI charted as point and figure instead of a line? For the same reason prices are: noise filtering. With 2% boxes and a three-box reversal, the BPI changes column only on a 6-point swing, turning a jittery daily percentage into a few clear states. ## Related concepts - Advance/decline Internals: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/advance-decline-internals/ - Up/down Volume: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/up-down-volume/ - TICK Index: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/tick-index/ - % Stocks Above 20/50/200-day MA: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/percent-stocks-above-20-50-200-day-ma/ - New Highs − New Lows: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/new-highs-new-lows/ - Participation Divergence at Index Highs: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/participation-divergence-at-index-highs/ - TRIN: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/trin/ - McClellan Oscillator: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/mcclellan-oscillator/ - Breadth Thrusts: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/breadth-thrusts/ - Equal-weight vs Cap-weight Ratio: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/equal-weight-vs-cap-weight-ratio/ --- Source: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/concept/bullish-percent-index/ (LuxAlgo Library, the encyclopedia of trading & technical analysis). Free to use with attribution: https://www.luxalgo.com/library/license/