A Home Depot and Lowe’s Companies Mismatch for the Holidays

Home Depot (HD) is on a relatively reliable uptrend of higher highs and higher lows on the way to all-time highs.

Valuation Gap Lowe’s Companies (LOW) gets a bad rap relative to Home Depot (HD) for being the weaker operator for the home improvement and do-it-yourself (DIY) crowd. Investors are willing to pay a trailing 36 P/E, forward 17 P/E, 1.2 price/sales, and 33.5 price/book for LOW. Investors are willing to pay a trailing 23 P/E, … Read more

An Obvious Stock Market Breakout Leaves Open Questions – Above the 40 (September 6, 2019)

AT40 = 49.7% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 48.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAsVIX = 15.0Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary One Obvious Pattern to Another The S&P 500 (SPY) and the NASDAQ (COMPQX) transitioned from an obvious trading range to an obvious … Read more

A Stock Market Stuck In An Obvious Trading Range Still Produces A Rich Set of Expectations – Above the 40 (August 29, 2019)

AT40 = 38.3% of stocks are trading above their respective 40-day moving averages (DMAs) AT200 = 44.1% of stocks are trading above their respective 200DMAs (2-month low)VIX = 19.0Short-term Trading Call: neutral Stock Market Commentary The Trigger Finger On Tuesday (August 27), I saw enough hints of a flip from a bullish to bearish divergence … Read more

Home Builder Trade: A Timely Exit or An Opportunity for A Refresh?

With just one day to go until expiration of the short side, my Aug/Oct $39 calendar call spread on the iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB) hit its initial profit target. I was hoping the short side would expire worthless, and I could ride the long side expiring in October into the launch … Read more

Tesla: New Trading Strategies for A Fresh Breakdown and New Price Range

The monthly chart of Tesla (TSLA) suggests the stock has entered a lower trading range. If this range fails, there are likely two more lines of firm support before the stock hits an air pocket that would threaten all the steep gains from 2013.

The Short-Term Breakdown The technical conditions for Tesla (TSLA) have greatly deteriorated since I wrote about short-term and long-term trading strategies on the stock. I focused on two main trading strategies: 1) a longer-term covered call strategy for bullish investors fortunate enough to own 100+ shares of stock and 2) what I considered at the … Read more