Russia and Ukraine. It’s front page news and for good reason. But when it comes to today’s market environment and select large-cap stocks, that story is trumped by opportunistic political theater for buyers. Let me explain.
It’s not a secret that last week’s invasion of Ukraine by Russia triggered a fearful bear market in the Nasdaq as the tech bellwether receded as much as 22% below its November high.
Other major averages didn’t fare much better as word of attack came out in front of last Thursday’s market open.
Fear was everywhere and remains at elevated levels with the Chicago Board of Trade’s VIX still hanging on to the historically panicked 30% level.
Sensibly, skyrocketing oil prices, tied-at-the-hip inflation worries, supply chain and international trade disruptions helped with the selloff in large-cap stocks and for that matter, stocks of most ever flavor.
But while the market is reactive at times, it’s more consistently a forward-looking price mechanism.
And today, while uncertainty and the conflict overseas persist, bullish investors are already replacing defensively pulled-in tails with a more aggressive look in keeping with a continued Roaring ‘20s redux.
Today let’s explore the price charts of three knocked down, large-cap stocks to buy.
Large-Cap Stocks to Buy: Microsoft (MSFT)
Source: Charts by TradingView
The first of our large-cap stocks to buy are shares of Microsoft.
Shares of the diversified tech giant put in a new corrective low of 22% last Thursday in the wake of that session’s near 4% opening bearish gap.
The price action largely mimicked the Nasdaq, which given it’s standing as the second most valuable company at $2.245 trillion, may be less of a surprise.
More importantly, and on today’s price chart, this large-cap stock is shaping up as an even more formidable purchase.
As the weekly chart reveals, MSFT has quickly countered its bear market status by forming a confirmed lower-low, double-bottom pattern.
Stationed modestly above its 38% Fibonacci level tied to March 2020’s Covid low — and coupled with the support of an oversold, bullishly-divergent stochastics setup — this large-cap stock is one to own today.
CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD)
Source: Charts by TradingView
The next of our large-cap stocks to buy is CrowdStrike Holdings.
The cybersecurity giant traded lower this past week in the wake of the Russian invasion, but unlike MSFT stock, CRWD failed to make a new low for 2022.
That’s probably not a big surprise given the raised importance for national security at the digital level and investors inadvertently throwing the baby out with the bathwater during last Thursday’s early panic.
This large-cap stock’s bearish failure of sorts also isn’t entirely a shocker given the work that’s already been done on the monthly price chart.
All stocks correct, even the best of the best, and particularly after significant rallies. And CRWD stock checks all those boxes.
Unlike MSFT’s 22% bear market correction, CRWD has surrendered 50% over the past five months following a run of more than 500% since bottoming in March 2020.
And today the monthly price chart in this large-cap stock is agreeable with a big-time purchase.
With CRWD confirming February’s bullish inside hammer pattern and stochastics signaling a favorable crossover in oversold territory, this large-cap stock to buy is ready right now.
Large-Cap Stocks to Buy: Block (SQ)
Source: Charts by TradingView
The last of our large-cap stocks to buy is Block.
The fintech formerly known as Square is another large-cap that took an initial beating on the escalation overseas.
But following better-than-expected earnings the next morning, investors jumped at the chance to own SQ and drove shares up more than 26% on the session.
To be sure, that’s a sizable reaction for a large-cap stock valued at about $45 billion in front of the report. But don’t call it unsustainable.
Despite the seemingly aggressive response, there’s compelling technical evidence suggesting another Roaring ’20s party in this large-cap stock may just be getting started.
After shedding more than 70% at last week’s low, SQ stock’s six-month plus long bear cycle has put together a very strong-looking doji-hammer candlestick on the monthly price chart.
Combined with Block’s oversold stochastics now issuing a buy signal and the bottoming candle piercing flattened Bollinger Band support, it could be a gift for U.S. large-cap stock investors.
On the date of publication, Chris Tyler did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
