3 Big Stock Charts for Wednesday: Alcoa Inc (AA), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and ConocoPhillips (COP)

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Stocks rebounded nicely on Tuesday thanks to a combination of higher energy prices (on chatter of a Saudi-Russia production freeze agreement) and more dovish commentary from Federal Reserve officials.

Yet the outlook for stocks remains challenging. Technically, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is contending with massive resistance from a three-year topping pattern. And broader measures, such as the NYSE Composite Index and the Russell 2000, remain in a pattern of lower highs and lower lows that have been in place since last May.

Fundamentally, first-quarter earnings are set for their worst performance since 2009 while U.S. Q1 GDP growth is set for a 0.1% result, according to the Atlanta Fed.

With so much in flux, keep an eye on the following three stock charts: Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP).

Alcoa Inc (AA)

041316-aa-stock

Alcoa kicked the first-quarter reporting season off on a dour note on Monday evening, reporting a big revenue miss: Sales of $4.95 billion missed the $5.27 billion analysts were expecting. On a GAAP basis, earnings per share were just $16 million or less than penny per share.

AA shares dropped to test support near the 200-day moving average, testing support from a three-month consolidation range. A drop below $9 would violate this level, the 200-day average and the 50-day average, putting a test of the February lows in play.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)

JPMorgan shares have been trading near the $60-a-share level since last summer, oscillating up and down but always remaining near this level — which was first crossed in late 2014.

JPM reported earnings today before the bell, with profits coming to $5.52 billion, lower than the $5.91 billion it earned in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted earnings of $1.35 per share did manage to beat Street estimates, however. Revenues that declined 3% to $24.08 billion also beat expectations for $23.4 billion.

Results were dampened by a drop in long-term interest rates in recent months, as well as a decline in trading and investment banking amid a collapse in Q1 M&A activity to levels not seen since 2014.

Nonetheless, JPMorgan stood to actually gain a few percentage points on Wednesday.

ConocoPhillips (COP)

ConocoPhillips (COP)

Energy stocks like ConocoPhillips got a huge lift on Tuesday — pushing the Energy SPDR (XLE) above its 200-day moving average for the first time since 2014 — thanks to hopes of a Russia-Saudi production freeze deal. COP shares haven’t been above their 200-day moving average since October 2014.

Further gains for oil, spurred by an actual Russia-OPEC deal in Doha later this month, could put COP into its first long-term uptrend in nearly two years.

The company will report results on April 28 before the bell, and analysts are looking for a loss of 89 cents per share on revenues of $7.9 billion.

Anthony Mirhaydari is founder of the Edge and Edge Pro investment advisory newsletters. Free two- and four-week trial offers have been extended to InvestorPlace readers.

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Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2016/04/3-big-stock-charts-for-wednesday-alcoa-inc-aa-jpmorgan-chase-co-jpm-and-conocophillips-cop/.

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