Wednesday wasn’t as eventful as many expected with the Fed Meeting and rate decision in the afternoon. No one expected a rate cut, but the statements and press conference after the meeting usually create movement in the market. It did make a little bit of a difference, but not as much as usual.
The indices finished with mixed results with the Nasdaq moving up 0.50% and the S&P gaining 0.18%. The Dow fell 0.15% and the Russell dropped 0.36%.
The sectors were mixed as well with six losing ground and four moving higher. The utilities sector was the worst performer with a loss of 1.16% and the industrial sector fell 0.62% as the second worst performer.
As for the top sector, the tech sector rallied 0.68% and narrowly beat out the consumer discretionary sector which gained 0.66%.
My scans were positively skewed for a second straight night with 22 bullish signals and 17 bearish signals.
The barometer inched a little higher and finished with a reading of 5.4, up from 0.8% on Tuesday.
Out of the 43 stocks on the two lists combined, there were four that stood out—three on the bullish list and one on the bearish list. The one that I felt gave us the greatest odds of success was on Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE: TFC). The company was on the bullish list and it scores a 66 on the EPS rating system and an A on the SMR grading scale.
As you can see on the chart, a trend channel has formed on the stock in the last few months and it just hit the lower rail. Looking at what happened when the stock hit the two lows that formed the lower rail the stock rallied over 20% each time. A similar move this time would put the stock up near $55.00.
Buy to open the March 45-strike calls on TFC at $4.70 or better. These options expire on March 19, 2021. I suggest a target gain of 100% and that means the stock will need to reach $54.40. That target would mean a new high for the stock, but it is within the 20% range from the recent low. I recommend a stop at $45.25.
— Rick Pendergraft
See What One Ticker... One Trade... EVERY WEEK... Can Do for YOU [sponsor]New research proves that trading one ticker every week has had the ability to produce extraordinary gains... Including a rare 2,614% in under 11 days. See this groundbreaking new discovery for yourself. SHOW ME ONE TICKER PAYOUTS