A painful fall on Tuesday was followed by a market closure on Wednesday to mourn the death of former president George H. W. Bush. Traders didn’t get much reprieve though, with major indices tanking in the first half of Thursday’s session. Some investors are wondering if we will now get a relief rally, given the rebound we’re seeing in the afternoon and ahead of Friday’s labor report. Let’s look at our top stock trades to get an idea.
Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow #1: S&P 500 ETF
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Down almost 3% at one point in the session, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA:SPY) was reeling. Just look at the chart above to get an idea of the last two trading sessions.
Brutal.
Anyway, the ETF is doing its best to hold recent range support. With support just below $264, that mark is holding up — for now. A break below could send the SPY to its February and March lows near $255. We also have a level of uptrend support drawn in blue. Whether going by session lows or session closes, the SPY is back above both trend-lines for the time being. That bodes well for bulls hoping for a relief rally.
For any real upside momentum to get going though, the SPY needs to get through $280.
Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow #2: Tesla
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Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) continues to impress. The company has its issues, but lately that’s not stopping the stock price from rallying. After the company’s third-quarter earnings report in late-October, shares were consolidating in a tight range between $330 and $350, drifting higher and higher.
Eventually shares pushed through and are now teetering on a larger breakout over $360. Should it take off, look for a possible run up the highs over $380. Under pressure, look to see if the $350 to $360 area can prop Tesla up.
This is an important level in Tesla, one that has usually resolved in the bears’ favor. The longer Tesla can hold over this mark though, the better off bulls will be. On a decline, look for support in the $330 to $340 range, as well as moving average support below.
Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow #3: Cloudera
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Cloudera (NYSE:CLDR) beat on earnings and revenue expectations, igniting a 12% rally on Thursday.
Shares are now over downtrend resistance (blue line) and have a shot at rallying up to the 50-day moving average. From there, bulls may have a hard time hurdling through various resistance levels, but keep in mind, this name was trading for nearly $20 in early October.
On the downside, look for roughly $12 to hold as support, where trendline support should come into play.
Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow #4: Exxon Mobil
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Oil is again under pressure, driving a number of oil stocks lower. One of most well-known names is Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), which is being buried on the day.
However, it’s also near the lower end of its recent range around $76. For bulls, that sets up as a nice risk/reward long. Should that $75 to $76 area hold, so too can longs. Remember, keep it simple, especially during times like these.
Top Stock Trades for Tomorrow #5: Apple
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A number of large-cap tech stocks were trading well on the day, including Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL, NASDAQ:GOOG). Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was a bit heavier though, perhaps on the back of more negative iPhone news this week.
Either way though, we have the stock down a quick $12 from its highs earlier this week. But Apple is out of its steep downtrend and holding last week’s lows. Both of those factors are important.
From a trading perspective, bulls won’t want to stick around if Apple loses its lows. In the super short term, see if AAPL get back above Thursday’s highs. If it can, look for a rally into the upper-$170s. If it does, see if momentum builds or wanes from there.
Long-term investors may consider nibbling down here too.
Bret Kenwell is the manager and author of Future Blue Chips and is on Twitter @BretKenwell. As of this writing, Bret Kenwell is long AAPL, GOOGL and AMZN.
