The forming abilities of monatomic chains (MC) of several fcc and bcc metals stretched in three principal crystallographic orientations of [1 1 1], [1 0 0] and [1 1 0] are analyzed in terms of a ratio between Peierls stress of a bulk crystal with dislocations (tau(p)) and theoretical shear stress of a monatomic chain (tau(m)). It is found that the structure and orientation dependent tau(m)/tau(p) values are proportional to the forming abilities of MC while tau(m)/tau(p) is a function of Possion's ratio v. The above considerations are in agreement with known experimental and simulation results of Au. In addition, Nb as a candidate for MC formation is suggested. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.