Friday brought another day of mixed results with three of the indices moving higher and one moving lower. As has been the case over the last month or so, the Nasdaq underperformed the others and dropped 0.59% on the day.
The Dow led the way with a gain of 0.9% and it was followed by the Russell which moved up 0.61%. The S&P eked out a gain of 0.10%.
Eight of the 10 sectors moved higher while two moved lower. The tech sector was the worst performer with a drop of 0.72% and the communication services sector fell 0.28% as the only other sector in the red.
The utilities sector jumped 1.35% to lead the way and the industrial sector was right behind with a gain of 1.34%. The financial sector moved up 1.02% to give us three sectors with gains over 1.0%.
My scans turned in a third straight negative result on Friday with 24 bearish signals and four bullish signals.
The barometer dropped in to negative territory once these results were added in to the equation. The final reading was -12.4 and that was down from 7.1.
None of the stocks on the bullish list got my attention, plus we are due for a bearish trade idea based on the alternating pattern we’ve had over the last week or so. Xcel Energy (Nasdaq: XEL) appeared on my bearish scan, but its fundamental indicators aren’t all that bad. The EPS rating is at 68 and the SMR is a B, but this suggestion is based on the chart.
The stock has been trending lower since November and it now faces two levels of resistance. The 50-day moving average kept the stock in check in late January and it is in play once again. If we connect the lows from the last few months and then draw a parallel upper rail, the stock is right at that point as well.
Buy to open the April 65-strike puts on XEL at $3.80 or better. These options expire on April 16, 2021. I suggest a target gain of 75% and that means the stock will need to drop to $58.35. The stock was down below $57 earlier this month and it doesn’t even need to reach that low to hit our target. I recommend a stop at $64.00.
— Rick Pendergraft
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