MGM Near Rounded Bottom Breakout

MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) formed the left lip of a rounded bottom pattern the week of 3 March 2014.  From there, the pattern developed with near perfection, including a classic bump mid-way through the pattern that would have been an ideal swing trade opportunity had this stock been on our radar at the time.  The right lip of the pattern formed the week of 21 November 2016, and the consolidation period that is still running is typical of this type of formation.

MGM Weekly Chart

Price was rising steadily into the pattern in 2014, as is typical 62% of the time.  The horizontal consolidation we are currently experiencing will mark our entry, should this stock break to the upside as is expected.  More on that when we analyze the daily chart, however.

To get a price target for the pattern, we'll take the low of the pattern from the height of the left rim and then use the 61.8% extension measured from our right rim breakout point.  That gives us a potential target of $36.87 and a nice 3:1 reward:risk ratio.

MGM Daily Chart

The daily chart offers additional evidence of the potential move.  From the pattern low in February 2016, coinciding with the bottom of the "bump" on the weekly pattern, the upward impulse pattern has drawn at least 3 full waves, with wave 4 either in progress or having just completed.  It's wave-5 that we intend to ride for this trade.  The price target obtained on the weekly is within range of a wave-5 target and, in fact, falls about a point shy of that target.  So we can stick with it as a decent measure.

The consolidation that appeared on the weekly forms a tight channel with a slightly downward bias on the daily.  It has numerous touches both top and bottom, making it an extremely reliable formation.  Notice, too, the diagonal trend-line that extends up from the bottom of Wave-2.  We traded briefly below that trend-line, but with today's close, price is once again above it.  We don't yet know if that line will be significant, but with at least four touches, we can't ignore it.

We'll be playing this stock as a traditional breakout, albeit from a rounded bottom.  Our entry will be long on a close above the current channel.  The protective stop will be just below the support line of the channel, and our price target will be $36.87.

The only caution is that earnings are reported before the open on 16 February.  Per our trading plan, we cannot enter a position this close to an earnings date, so we'll have to wait until Friday for an entry, assuming price hasn't outrun us by then.  It's entirely possible, though, that earning could be the catalyst for the move, so be ready to play it after the turbulence that typically marks an earnings day.

Happy Trading.