Rising Wedge Signals Trouble For PAA

Despite a bullish channel pattern on the weekly chart, Plains All American Pipeline L.P. (NYSE: PAA) is showing all bearish signals across multiple time frames from the daily through to the monthly charts.  For our analysis, we'll start with the broadest view on the monthly.

PAA Monthly Chart

Since inception, PAA drew a strong 5-wave impulse leading to what appears to be a Wave-I top in September, 2014.  Wave-II appears to be in progress now, forming what is shaping up to be either a zig-zag or a flat correction.  Wave-A retraced over 61.8% of Wave-I, however, which is an extremely deep corrective pattern.  From its current position, Wave-C is somewhat limited to the downside, otherwise the entire wave count will be invalidated.  (Wave-II cannot retrace 100% of Wave-I to be a valid count.)

The RSI(9) oscillator does signal a bearish divergence on both the highs and the lows, however, so continued weakness appears to be in the offing.  From the overall monthly pattern, we do expect a Wave-C to the downside, however given the volume signature in December 2015 through February 2016, we believe significant demand exists between $15.00 and $17.00, so it's not likely for Wave-C to travel below those levels.  Watch for a shallow correction from the current level.

PAA Weekly Chart

On the surface, the weekly chart would appear to offer a contrary interpretation.  A strong, tight bullish channel marked price starting in February 2016 and continuing through to the present.  Note, though, that price has traveled horizontally since November 2016 and has been riding the support line for most of 2017.  On Balance Volume is rising, however price is not rising in conjunction with the indicator.  Both the RSI(9) indicator and the MACD(5,34,5) have rolled over into a bearish configuration.  Similarly, the 200-day moving average is above price, has rolled over, and is now descending.  These are all indications that a downward price move is pending.

PAA Daily Chart

That brings us to the daily chart.  The most recent trend, starting in September 2016, formed a rising wedge pattern.  That, as we've discussed in other posts, is a bearish signal.  Price tends to break downward from a rising wedge pattern, although the price target from such a pattern is somewhat unpredictable.

The other major warning sign is a diagonal trend line that starts in April 2016 and had seven firm touches before being penetrated to the downside on 12 January 2017.  Since then, it has acted as resistance with three touches. 

Volume since the first of the year has been bearish as well.  Notice the extremely weak volume over the first week of February, and notice the falling volume in general for all of 2017.  Interest in the stock appears to be waning, and demand is required to drive price higher. 

From a fundamental perspective, we see that PAA lowered its dividend from $0.70 to $0.55 in October, 2016.  This is accompanied by nine consecutive quarters of missed revenue, and 5 out of 10 quarters of missed earnings.  "Troubled" would be the best way to describe the company.  Trading at a P/E of 78.38 - nearly triple its nearest competitor - it's hard to envision much in the way of an upside, even with the favorable energy infrastructure outlook fostered by the current US Administration.

The only play we see for PAA is to the short side.  We are looking at two possible entry points.  The first is a short trade on a close below the support line of the wedge.  In that case, we'll place a protective stop just above the horizontal resistance line around $33 and we'll set a price target at the horizontal support line around $25.

The second potential play is if price rises a bit further within the wedge.  In that case, we'll watch for a reversal at one of the three major resistance lines: the diagonal resistance line (in red), the blue horizontal resistance line, or the top of the wedge.  A reversal at either of those points will signal a short entry with a protective stop above the next highest resistance line.  Again, our target will be the horizontal support line around $25, although we'll watch for an early exit if the wedge support line appears to hold.  Watch this one carefully since the breakdown, when it comes, may be swift.

Happy Trading.

FIS in Wave 5 on Monthly But Still Has Significant Headroom

A horizontal consolidation pattern characterized the stock performance of Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (NYSE: FIS) for the entire fourth quarter of 2016.  The pattern is showing signs of an impending breakout, however.  To understand the overall trend and determine where FIS could head, we'll start with a look at the monthly chart. 

FIS Monthly Chart

On the macro level, the current uptrend started with a strong monthly reversal candle in November 2008 at the peak of the Financial Crisis.  After a lackadaisical first wave that barely exceeded the pre-crisis high, Wave-3 took off and, depending on your interpretation of the wave count, ended in either last 2015 or mid-2016.  The date of it's ending doesn't much matter for our trading horizon, however what's important here is that the overall long-term trend is up, and there is still a full Wave-V to go - a Wave-V that is virtually unrestricted due to the length of Wave-III.  The channel boundaries in the up-trend suggest the current consolidation could run a bit longer, but there are no downward pressures of significance on the chart other than a bearish divergence in the RSI(9) oscillator that is typical of the top of one of the impulse waves.

FIS Weekly Chart

The weekly chart improves the picture and starts to approach our trading horizon.  Here we can see the development of the last major impulse wave on the monthly chart, and on the weekly it's clarified into a 5 sub-wave pattern.  This pattern is more relevant to us since the potential for the final impulse wave to end in the short-term greatly increases. That doesn't mean that wave-5 can't extend into a second impulse, however we don't yet have evidence that it will happen.

Again notice the consistent bull channel that runs the entire length of this impulse wave.  Right now, we're trading near the center of that channel, although we are resting on a shorter term horizontal resistance line that's held for the last six-months.  A breakout from that resistance line will be an excellent indication that Wave-v is in progress, and would be a very good long entry point if confirmed on the daily chart.

FIS Daily Chart

So now we know that the long-term trend is up (based on the monthly chart), and the intermediate term trend is up but potentially running out of steam (based on the weekly chart.)  Let's now look at the daily chart since it's on this time frame that we look for our setups.

This horizontal consolidation that's been running since July 2016 forms a narrowing wedge pattern, but the channel itself is ill-suited for swing trade setups.  Price has not oscillated between the extremes with any consistency.  The much shorter term channel - in magenta - does show more promise since there were three touches to both support and resistance since late November 2016.  Last Thursday's candle was a retest of support, and that was rejected on high volume.  Even though the candle is red, that hammer was a very bullish indicator.

This, in fact, is the setup we are looking to take.  Friday's candle offered confirmation of the price rejection, at least in the short-term.  Going long just above the high of Friday's candle with a stop below the rising support line offers a good setup.  The rising resistance line offers a good exit opportunity, although we may also want to allow at least half of the position to continue to run since Wave-v should initiate soon.  It would be nice to catch that wave if we see the setup in time.

Be aware that FIS reports earnings before the open on 7 February. They are expected to trade ex-dividend in late March, so that should not have any bearing on our trade horizon.  Do be aware of the earnings date, though, if we attempt to ride the crest of Wave-v.

Happy Trading.

Quintiles IMS Holdings Showing Weakness on Daily and Weekly Charts

A wedge pattern is not one of my preferred setups.  The breakout from such a pattern is fairly random, and the performance after the breakout is often lackluster at best.  Nonetheless, that's the pattern we're facing on the daily chart for Quintiles IMS Holdings (NYSE: Q), a mid-cap provider of bio-pharmaceutical development services as well as commercial outsourcing services in the health-care field.

Q Daily Chart

Since we know we really can't rely on the wedge pattern alone, let's review what other clues the chart has to offer.  It's hard to miss the twin towers of volume - in this case, supply - that dominate the landscape on 30 November and 1 December 2016.  While that pattern is symptomatic of climactic activity, it's not the first major indicator of weakness in the current pattern.  Look at the decline from 6 October to 1 November.  In that entire period, only four days were positive, and all four were extremely short candles compared with the rest of the save.  In total, over 11 points were traveled, forming both the top and bottom of the wedge.

When we look at the volume pattern, the amount of supply that's evident appears stronger than the amount of demand, and we can see the overall strength of the down days in general. As an added point of confirmation, the On Balance Volume (OBV) indicator (shown in orange above volume) continues to decline.  That's an indication that shares are being distributed, not accumulated, and it's an extremely bearish sign.

Curiously, we don't see a divergence on the daily RSI(9) oscillator.  Instead, it's merely echoing the price action.  In itself, it's not giving us much of a clue as to where Q intends to breakout, although the price action implies a downward break in the short-term.

Finally, notice the peaks on 5 October, 29 November, and 15 December.  With those peaks, we have at least a double top formation with the first two, and the last one arguably creates a triple top.  The pattern is not confirmed, of course, since we've yet to close below the neckline at $70.10, however it's definitely a major flashing warning light.

A double top appears on the weekly chart as well, and that formation is more ominous.  The left peak dates to late July 2015 and the right peak is in late September 2016.  The neckline on this longer term pattern is $55.01.  Note that meeting the price target of the daily chart double top would approach that weekly neckline.

Q Weekly Chart

Here's where things start to get interesting, though.  The weekly chart starts to bring an Elliott Wave pattern into context, and for the moment, at least, we appear to be in the waning stages of a Wave-2 correction.  The low of Wave-2 retraced 61.8% of Wave-1, so it was a deep correction, but in-line with all of the rules.  The next wave we'd expect on the weekly is a Wave-3 impulse that would, in this case, be an up-trend. 

That wedge we see on the daily chart extends out to an ascending triangle on the weekly chart.  That's also considered a bullish pattern.  The volume pattern is somewhat neutral on the weekly.  There's certainly some heavy supply early in the triangle, but following that one climactic week there hasn't been much follow-through in either direction.

The one major caution sign on the weekly chart is the RSI(9) oscillator.  Unlike the daily chart, there is definitely a bearish divergence on the weekly.  That's warning us of potential trouble ahead, and points to a possible downward break, at least for the short term.

Here's a case where we really need to give the stock some reins and see where it wants to lead us.  If we get a downside breakout on convincing volume, I'll play it.  The wedge is showing a potential 7 to 10 point move in either direction, and that's worth trying to capture.  A stop a few percent inside the pattern to give it room for a pullback would still be a good reward to risk ratio, and likely keep us out of a shakeout flip.

A break to the upside, however, may signal the start of Wave-3 on the weekly chart, and we definitely want to ride that one.  Again, however, we need to see convincing volume, especially given the number of failures off that resistance line thus far. 

That, in fact, is the third potential setup.  A failure off resistance will be an excellent short opportunity.  The moves down from resistance have been swift to date, and our stop would be just above the resistance line.  Again, that's a fantastic reward to risk ratio.

Let's see which of the setups will actually trigger.  With several very good plays lining up in either direction, we'll add this to our watch list.

Happy Trading.