The market kicked off the new trading week in a better mood than it ended the old though, although Monday’s 0.5% gain for the S&P 500 wasn’t exactly game-changing. Volume was light, and we’re still within reach of a key technical breakdown.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) did more than its fair share of heavy lifting, gaining 2.3% after JPMorgan suggested demand for its newest iPhone was stronger than had been previously anticipated. Smaller Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ:BBBY) logged a much bigger and better day, however, rallying nearly 8% after Wedbush upgraded the stock on the possibility that it would sell certain assets.
Holding the market back more than any other name was Visa (NYSE:V). Shares of the credit card middleman slumped a little more than 1%, rekindling a wave of profit-taking that got going early last month.
As for names worth a trading-minded look headed into Tuesday’s session, though, take a look at the stock charts of AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV), S&P Global (NYSE:SPGI) and FleetCor Technologies (NYSE:FLT). They’re each working their way towards something more explosive.
S&P Global (SPGI)
S&P Global was quietly one of this year’s top performers through early September. But, once the sheer weight of those gains started to bear down on the rally’s underpinnings, it became clear how fragile the advance had become. Friday’s tumble was something of a death blow.
A closer inspection of both stock charts of S&P Global, however, makes clear that this selloff and technical breakdown was put into motion well before this week. It goes back to a start date of September 9.
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• Friday’s stumble also pulled SPGI stock below the rising support line plotted in yellow that had kept the uptrend in motion for months.
• Fanning the newly formed bearish flames is the heavy volume that’s accompanied the breakdown over the course of the past couple of trading days. The nudge may have drawn several would-be sellers out of the woodwork.
FleetCor Technologies (FLT)
With nothing more than a passing glance, it would be easy to not even notice the shape of the FleetCor Technologies chart of late. Like most other stocks, it has been up and down, and not making any net progress.
A longer look at FLT stock, however, makes clear that things are changing for the worst. Although only gradually, the bears have been chipping away at this year’s uptrend and are quietly on the verge of tipping the scales all the way over to the bearish side. The good news is, the make-or-break line is crystal clear.
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• It’s subtle, though very telling, how on the daily chart the red, bearish volume bars have been gradually growing since July. It’s a hint that the bears are already planning on dishing out a setback.
• Zooming out to the weekly chart, we can see FleetCor Technologies is no stranger to arcing rollovers once they slip into an overbought situation.
AbbVie (ABBV)
The last time AbbVie was under the trading microscope back on June 24, it was in a downtrend, but finding support at a couple of different well-established floors. The previous day’s volume surge suggested the matter was going to come to a head. It did, albeit for the worst. A couple of days later ABBV was crushed.
That setback and the follow-up stumble in August, however, may have ultimately served as a capitulation that will eventually be determined to be “the” bottom. There’s just one more major hurdle to clear before we can know for sure if the turnaround was built to last.
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• The trading range that’s been guiding ABBV stock lower since early last year is still intact, although AbbVie is testing that upper boundary at this time. The white 200-day moving average line is also coming into play.
• The September rally has taken shape on clearly bullish volume, though no more volume than the selling volume seen in July.
As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. You can learn more about James at his site, jamesbrumley.com, or follow him on Twitter, at @jbrumley.
