If any company represents the unprecedented social, economic and technological disruptions of the coronavirus pandemic, it would have to be Zoom Video Communications.
The teleconferencing stock not only joined the Nasdaq-100 in April. It’s also the index’s top gainer in 2020, up about 600 percent. Its market cap of $138 billion ranks it ahead of venerable names...
Materials have quietly outperformed in the last three months as the global economy recovers. Last week’s numbers somewhat confirmed that trend, with strong job gains in areas like construction and factories that can boost materials demand. Perhaps even more important, Chinese manufacturing data (PMIs, profits) were strong across the board.
Today’s idea fits into...
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index formed an interesting pattern this month as the market pulled back. It initially dove toward 2100, and then managed to hold that level even as the Nasdaq-100 and S&P 500 proceeded to make lower lows.
Not surprisingly, that relative strength led to more bullishness this week as SOX jumped above its 50-day simple moving...
Of all the non-technology corners of the market, housing has been pretty much the strongest group this year. Most people know the story: lean inventories, low interest rates, demographic trends and a post-Covid surge in suburban living.
As often happens, this fundamental backdrop has played out technically. The iShares US Home Construction ETF barely pulled back...
The U.S. dollar had its worst month in nine years in July. It continued lower in August but is now trying to bounce. The greenback is also squeezing between some potentially important levels.
To the upside, DXY is hitting resistance at the March low of 94.65.
To the downside, DXY is testing the 94 area. This was a support zone in September 2018, and then...
Market correlations are always interesting because they can reveal how investors are thinking.
One correlation recently been similar movement between semiconductors and industrials. (This chart shows the 10-day correlation between the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and the SPDR Industrial ETF .)
This isn’t a huge surprise because both are relatively cyclical....
Relative strength can often be a useful concept. There are indicators to measure relative strength , but one simple method is simply looking for stocks that hold their ground when the market crashes.
Semiconductor company Nvidia seems to fit this bill.
NVDA is a member of the Nasdaq-100 , Philadelphia Semiconductor Index and SPDR Technology ETF . All three...
Industrial stocks remain underperformers thanks to the coronavirus recession. However, a few companies struggling before the crisis have started breaking out.
One of them was Deere . The animal spirits have also been at work in Caterpillar.
The first chart feature for CAT is a weekly downtrend in place since early 2018. This ran along the pre-covid high and...
Tesla’s been a big name this week because of Battery Day. Behind all the excitement and letdown, some interesting things have happened technically – especially on the hourly chart.
Consider the price action around $380 on August 18-19. TSLA jumped to that level after the stock split was announced. (It was a new record high at the time, split adjusted.) For two...
The S&P 500 is down again this week, but it’s trying to stabilize. Looking back to the left of the chart, a potentially important level could be in play.
3214.68 was the low on January 31. It was the last meaningful support level before the coronavirus panic swept the market in late February.
Scrolling back to an intraday chart from that fateful time of February...
Auto-part retailers have been one of the stronger parts of the brick-and-mortar universe during the pandemic. (People are owning cars longer than ever and performing more do-it-yourself work.)
AZO showed that trend on Tuesday morning with a double-beat on earnings and revenue. It tried to open higher but lost a tug-of-war with bearish short-term momentum. Sellers...
Roku was one of the market’s most explosive growth stocks in 2018 and 2019. It’s chopped around with the rest of the Nasdaq during the time of the pandemic, however recent price action shows some interesting relative strength.
First, ROKU made a new 52-week high on Monday, even as the Nasdaq-100 hit a two-month low.
Next, ROKU bounced at its 50-day simple...
Chinese technology stocks have held their ground better than their U.S. counterparts. The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index is 8.5 percent below its 52-week high, while the SPDR Technology Fund is down 12 percent.
Alibaba, a key name in the group, has some interesting patterns on its chart.
First is the bullish-triangle breakout in August, which it’s now...
Housing entered 2020 with strong fundamentals (lack of supply, demographics). Coronavirus magnified those trends by lowering interest rates and driving people from urban apartments.
Online real-estate brokerage Redfin has emerged as one of the top-performing names in the space, more than doubling on a year to-date basis. (It’s also risen more than 400 percent...
Even when the big indexes are sliding, a handful of growth stocks with their own stories can rally. Cannabis play GrowGeneration may fit that bill.
The seller of growing supplies like hydroponic equipment exploded higher last month on the heels of a strong quarterly report. (Revenue +123 percent, same-store sales +49 percent.) It’s pulled back and consolidated...
Chipotle Mexican Grill has been a slow-and-steady gainer in 2020. It was already investing in its online model before the pandemic, and that decision paid off handsomely as the country went into lockdown mode.
CMG formed a bullish triangle in July and early August. It then broke out and surged to new all-time highs near $1,400 before rolling over with the rest of...
Amazon.com might be the poster child of e-commerce taking over the U.S. economy. But it’s by no means the only beneficiary of online shopping in the last six months. Wayfair has rallied even more, surging over 1,300 percent from its March low to August high.
Now it’s pulled back, with some interesting signals.
First, we have the deeply oversold condition on...
The monster rally in Nasdaq stocks has obviously grabbed most people’s attention recently. However there’s also been a major shift in currency markets as the U.S. dollar slides.
That trend has paused for more than a month. Looking simply at the dollar index , it’s not clear whether the decline is ready to continue. But DXY is two-thirds European (euro and...
