Don't get me wrong, but you can do this way ;)
function nagitive_check($value){
if (isset($value)){
if (substr(strval($value), 0, 1) == "-"){
return 'It is negative<br>';
} else {
return 'It is not negative!<br>';
}
}
}
Output:
echo nagitive_check(-100); // It is negative
echo nagitive_check(200); // It is not negative!
echo nagitive_check(200-300); // It is negative
echo nagitive_check(200-300+1000); // It is not negative!