The bulls and the bears have taken their turns feasting on plant-based food maker Beyond Meat . First the bulls, then the bears … and now the bulls may be back. BYND initially flew higher after its May 2019 IPO, ripping from $25 to over $220. It then fizzled out and crashed all the way back down into the $70s. Buyers came back with an appetite in 2020 and drove...
Semiconductors have been one of the stronger corners of the market, and Advanced Micro Devices has been one of the strongest names in the space. AMD might be extended in price but that's a sign of its leadership. It just pulled back to test its 10-week simple moving average (SMA) for the first time since it started running in October. The stock is also coming...
One software stock after another has come to life and ripped higher in the last few months. Salesforce.com , Alteryx , ServiceNow , Trade Desk , Adobe : the list goes on. VEEV is another member of the group that's now trying to make its move. It's formed a broad basing pattern since last autumn. That followed a 100 percent move between early 2018 and...
Coupa Software has had a monster run since early last year. Now it could be giving a potential entry. COUP rallied about 150 percent between January 2019 and last October. It then had a big chopping period like two megaphones. It first got wider and then narrower, followed by a breakout in January. Now COUP has come back to hold the old high around $160 and...
Chip stocks have been the strongest corner of the market for the last year. Now one of the most actively traded names in that group has had its first healthy pullback since breaking out to new 52-week highs: Micron Technology . MU has been working its way through an 18-month consolidation pattern following a huge run between mid-2016 and mid-2018. It broke...
E-commerce stock eBay reported earnings last week. The backward-looking results were ok, but forward guidance wasn't so hot. The resulting drop is creating some bearish chart patterns. First, EBAY formed a tight channel between $34.50 and $36.60 since October. It's now breaking the bottom of that channel. Second, the channel began on October 24, when EBAY...
Facebook dropped sharply on Thursday after quarterly results raised questions about its longer-term growth story. Sure, the backward looking numbers weren't bad. But looking forward, newer offerings like Instagram don't seem to be catching fire. The "big blue app," with its slow-growing and ageing user base, isn't really thrilling investors. This stands in...
We've earlier cited downside in S&P Oil & Gas Exploration Fund and Halliburton . Now we're taking a step back to look at the bigger picture on the SPDR Energy ETF . It isn't pretty for the bulls. As many traders know, XLE is the market's worst-performing major sector by a wide margin. A global crude-oil glut and mediocre economic growth are hurting crude...
Traders in search of potentially bullish patterns don't have to look hard on the Ethereum chart. The No. 2 cryptocurrency has key basing patterns, candlestick patterns, levels and moving averages -- all seeming to point higher. First, the basing pattern: ETHUSD made a low around $132 on November 25 and another low of $116 on December 18. But then the next...
Skyworks Solutions has been flying on strong demand for smart phones and hopes of a big 5G buildout. Now it's pulled back to a level where traders might want to take a look. SWKS broke out to new record highs in December, above the $115 zone where it peaked in November 2017 and March 2018. As often happens, it was a case of "buy the rumor and sell the news."...
Bitcoin is known for volatility, but its trading range has narrowed considerably in recent months. That can indicate a change in character as buyers and sellers reach an equilibrium. It also fits into the apparently bullish structure of BTC since December, as cited in earlier ideas. The interesting thing about today's behavior is that BTC's Average True...
Zynga is a classic growth stock with a textbook cup and handle pattern. The social and mobile videogame stock doubled between late 2018 and the summer of 2019. It then paused and consolidated. Its August low of $5.51 was the cup. The following low of $5.63 in October represented the handle. ZNGA soon entered a tight channel and moved sideways, followed by a...
Fintech and payment stocks like PayPal and Mastercard have broken out lately, but one of the highest-beta names is stuck at a resistance line: Square . SQ has chopped around for more than a year, consolidating after a huge run (up 1,000 percent between September 2016 and September 2018). Pauses like this are common on the monthly chart for big growth stocks...
Energy has resumed its bearish ways lately as geopolitical risk goes out of the market, but plenty of supply keeps coming in! Just yesterday, International Energy Agency Head Fatih Birol predicted an oil surplus of 1 million barrels in the first half. Halliburton is one of the biggest names in the sector, and one of the most active underliers in terms of...
Netflix has drifted in a frustrating way for months. But now it could be setting up for a gap fill with earnings due this afternoon. NFLX began the year by finding support at its 200-day simple moving average (SMA). This represents a potentially significant change in character from July, when the same line was resistance. Traders may now be able to use the old...
The major indexes have been rallying to new highs, but one of the most important companies in the market hasn't participated: Amazon.com . The e-commerce giant spiked the day after Christmas thanks to news of a " record-breaking " holiday season. That ended a three-month imprisonment below its 200-day simple moving average (SMA). It also established AMZN back...
The stock market's been undeniably strong, but energy has been the weakest link. Of the 11 major sectors, energy remains at or near the bottom of the rankings. (It's also the only one under its 200-day SMA) The S&P Oil & Gas Exploration ETF is a heavily traded name within the broader energy space. It averages almost 2x more options on a daily basis than...
Gold miners have been consolidating for the last six months and now the Market Vectors Gold Miner ETF is bouncing at a potentially key level. GDX peaked around $28 between late October and mid-December. It then broke out and has now pulled back to find support at the old resistance. There's also some confluence with the 50- and 100-day simple moving averages...