Business Notes Stocks

Darryl Gammill, a Denver investment adviser and securities analyst, thinks stocks could literally be music to people's ears. Therefore he has put the performance of IBM shares to music. Gammill first collected information on the stock's activity between April 1984 and April 1985, including highs, lows and stock volume. Since he is not a trained musician, he asked a composer to turn that data into a musical score. The result: the record titled Rhapsody in Big Blue ($7.95).

The up-and-down price movements of IBM stock during the twelve-month period are the melody. When the trading volume rose sharply, the music is stronger. For variety, other sounds were added to the score. Bells and chimes ring when there were indications of insider trading, and surf crashes when the stock hit a high.

Gammill believes he has broken new ground. "Until now no one has been able to detect or transcribe emotion from a stock-performance chart," he says. Gammill is now setting the market performance of Exxon and Coca-Cola to music. Investors looking for a new stock may soon ask, "How does that stock sound?"