Breaking out, but doing so with little volume and a slight long-term negative divergence. No thanks on entry here....keep reading

I've seen thousands and thousands of charts during my years in the stock market and I'm continually striving to learn something new. One thing I noticed many years ago is that certain gaps can be relied upon more than others. When I analyze breakouts, I personally prefer to use opening and closing prices - as opposed to intraday prices. I believe intraday prices can many times signal false breakouts or false breakdowns. To illustrate what I like to see in a "true" breakout from a gap, let's look at Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (CDNS):...keep reading

They say a picture paints a thousand words. So perhaps it's appropriate to let the charts do the talking this weekend. Below are several charts from a longer-term weekly perspective, to highlight th...keep reading

Visa (V) topped in July 2021 and had been in a steady down channel for roughly 15 months. But technical indications suggest that V reversed its downtrend and is now trending higher. Earnings are due out in just over two weeks, but its absolute and relative strength point to a solid report and a continuing advance. Check out V's 3-year weekly chart:...keep reading

I know there are tremendous arguments to be made on both sides of this debate. Do traders or investors have the biggest advantage? In my opinion, investors USED TO have the biggest advantage, mostly because it was cost prohibitive to trade frequently. But now individual traders are armed with much better market information, really cool trading platforms, and free trading commissions. Knowledgeable traders that can effectively manage risk have an advantage over investors - again, in my opinion. Taking profits off the table at key price resistance is one effective way to keep cash on hand when opportunities present themselves. As an example, let's check out Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. (TMO):...keep reading

A successful trader knows how to manage risk more than anything else. It's imperative to consider your risk before pulling the trigger on a trade. I've spent a great deal of time studying the history of the market and one thing I know, without a doubt, is that buying just before the 19th of a calendar month adds risk. The 19th to the 25th of ALL calendar months produce an annualized return of roughly -8% on the S&P 500. Generally speaking, it's much better to buy on the 25th or 26th, simply based on history. The reason for this is monthly OPTIONS that expire. An example this month is NVIDIA Corp (NVDA). First, check out the NVDA chart and Tuesday's failed breakout attempt:...keep reading

I featured Etsy, Inc. (ETSY) two months ago, showing why we had grown more cautious in mid-August due to monthly options expiration. That was a short-term issue that we all need to pay attention to on a monthly basis. However, if I look at ETSY on a longer-term monthly basis, I can make an argument that it's downside action retested a key price support level and we're now poised for a significant rally:...keep reading

If I'm fortunate enough to have a winning trade and I see a topping candle at price resistance, I'm generally going to sell. Psychologically, it's not always easy to do so, because a reversing candle many times means that a stock trades well off its earlier intraday high. Selling at the end of the day, after a much higher price earlier, can be a difficult pill to swallow. Most of the time, though, I believe it's the right decision to make. Take a look at Arch Capital Group's (ACGL) shooting star candle from Thursday:...keep reading

On Wednesday, July 6th, I wrote an EB Digest article on Unitedhealth Group (UNH) and how the company had reported 58 consecutive quarterly earnings beats that dated back nearly 15 years. Then, last Friday UNH reported its 59th consecutive quarterly earnings beat, $5.57 actual vs. $5.24 estimate. In addition, UNH's revenues easily topped expectations as well and UNH raised its earnings guidance for its current fiscal year....keep reading

Nothing drives bull markets quite like rising earnings and rising expectations. That's the reason we keep our Strong Earnings ChartList (SECL) and Raised Guidance ChartList (RGCL). We do the research for our members, so no one has to guess at solid trade candidates. Yesterday, Home Depot (HD) threw their name out there....keep reading

Date Added: 10/4 Market Cap*: $0.516 EPS Actual: ($0.25) EPS Estimate: ($0.33) Revenue Actual*: $417.1 Revenue Estimate*: $409.0 ...keep reading

In late-March 2022, the widely-diversified retail ETF, XRT, hit a closing high of 81.06. Since that time, it's dropped roughly 25% to close on Tuesday at 60.32. But not all retail stocks have performed poorly. Enter Murphy USA (MUSA), which is up approximately 60% from its March 2022 low (164.10) vs. yesterday's close of 264.81....keep reading

One short-term trading strategy I have is to look for stocks that appear to be under accumulation and buy them during morning weakness, particularly if other bullish indications appear as well (price support or moving average test, light volume on selling, etc). One of our ChartLists that we regularly update on the StockCharts.com platform is our Strong AD ChartList (SADCL)....keep reading

ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW) has definitely been showing signs of strengthening technically and Thursday's close of 428.43 was the company's highest close since September. Bullish momentum is accelerating, as evidenced by the rapidly-rising PPO. Volume has been stronger than usual in January 2023, which is accompanying the bullish price action. One negative technically, however, has been the consistent drop in the AD line. Check out this chart...keep reading

It's been a long, long time since I've had anything positive to say about Roku, Inc. (ROKU), but it's at least beginning to show signs of a bottom in place. The first two real bullish signs emerged together. At the start of November, ROKU reported earnings and they weren't good. Clearly, bad news had been anticipate, though, as ROKU has fallen from 240 to start the year to under 45 on the November 3rd open. Higher interest rates and slowing growth have taken a massive toll on the stock, but when is enough enough?...keep reading

We do a lot of homework (research) for our members at EarningsBeats.com. This research includes the organization of many ChartLists. I wrote about three of these ChartLists, in particular, in my Trading Places blog on Saturday. You can read about it HERE. Between the three ChartLists, there were 1022 individual charts. A fourth ChartList, our Bullish Trifecta ChartList (BTCL), includes only those companies that meet the criteria of ALL 3 ChartLists. There are only 37 such companies right and Bunge Ltd (BG) is one of those....keep reading

There's a purpose and strategy to all of our ChartLists at EarningsBeats.com. One superb ChartList for shorter-term traders is our Strong AD ChartList (SADCL). I try to update this ChartList once every month to six weeks. As the name would suggest, a strong accumulation/distribution (AD) line is a primary reason why a stock would be on this ChartList. You can read more about the AD line in ChartSchool over at StockCharts.com....keep reading

I think it's generally a very good idea to keep a list of strong leaders within several industry groups. When the stock market corrects as it did earlier this year, many of these leaders fall out of favor for a period of time, but it's wise to keep a close eye on when their leadership begins to return. I believe Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) is one of those leaders....keep reading

I write a lot about relative strength - and for good reason. If a stock or index is not showing relative strength, then you should probably avoid it. After all, my primary objective in investing/trading is to beat the benchmark S&P 500. If I can't do that, then I should just put my money in the SPY (ETF that tracks the S&P 500) and do something else with my time, right?...keep reading

Perhaps the most important lesson I've ever learned in the stock market came via John Murphy. John has written many books, but it was his work on intermarket relationships that really inspired me. I now know the importance of "beneath the surface" signals. I have several "go to" sustainability ratios that I use to evaluate the market's strength or weakness. One of those ratios is the price of copper ($COPPER) vs. the price of gold ($GOLD)....keep reading