Elise Cubb

Hi Nile, thanks for asking that question! Stock traders forums are communities where stock traders come together and share tips, advice, strategies, and other useful data. These platforms are very useful for inexperienced traders and newcomers. By actually gathering knowledge from them you can avoid many rookie mistakes that could drastically impact your performance in a negative way. Right now there are numerous stock trading forums, with the best ones being Trade2Win, Wall Street Oasis, Elite Trader, ValuePickr, Investors Hub, The Lion, Stockaholics, and Hashtag Investing. All of these offer extensive data which is directly related to stock trading and should be carefully examined and used in such a way that will help you make a profit. The goal of these forums is to put together stock traders of all levels of experience, connect them and allow them to help each other through sharing of numerous experiences that will prove to be beneficial for all sides.

Hi Marko, Thanks for coming here. Shares of Lowe’s jumped around 6% higher yesterday after the retailer posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings. The reported EPS came in at £1.44 per share, better than £1.07 per share expected from the market. Revenue also came in better than expected at £16.02 billion, better than the expected £14.91 billion in revenue in the first quarter. The better-than-expected results didn’t stop Lowe’s from withdrawing the future outlook.

Hi John, thanks for the question. Both ascending and descending wedges are popular formations. The former is a bearish chart pattern that signals a likely breakout to the downside. It is also called a rising wedge which usually takes place within a downtrend. A break of the lower line signals a breakout and continuation of the existing downtrend. The latter, on the other hand, is a bullish chart formation and it works in the opposite manner. The break of the upper line signals a breakout that is likely to take the price action higher. In a wedge, two parallel trend lines are moving to each other i.e. concerning. The break out occurs before these two converge. The greatest advantage of both is that they signal an imminent change in the trend direction. The energy of the price action is consolidating between the two parallel lines. The chart pattern is activated once the breakout takes place and the price action closes outside of the wedge on a daily chart.

Hi Fernando, thanks for the question. USD/JPY broke out higher yesterday after days and weeks of trying to do so. The breakout came after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) scheduled an extraordinary meeting to discuss new measures to support the troubled economy. The new stimulus plan means more money printing, which then translates into the weaker currency. According to the reports, the Bank is looking to set up a new private-public fund to inject cash into the small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The fund has a budget of more than $450 million to target businesses in the manufacturing, services and other industries that have great importance for the Japanese economy. As a result, the Yen weakened on reports of the new stimulus. USD/JPY, therefore, broke above $107.50 resistance to trade above $108 again. However, the buyers failed to sustain the gains and the price action rotated lower. I see the USD/JPY trading in a range in the coming days.

Hi Fernando, thanks for coming here. Yes, indeed, Walmart stock price moved higher yesterday after the company announced better-than-expected results for the first quarter. This is expected as the panic-buying in March and April meant that Walmart struggled to cope with a surge in demand. "For many of these items we were selling in two or three hours what we normally sell in two or three days,” CEO Doug McMillon said. “Not only have products and categories like hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes and sprays, toilet paper, beef, and pork been hard to find but items such as laptops, office chairs, and fabric have been cleared out in some of our stores and online. We’re working to recover our in-stock position as we begin the second quarter.” As a result, Walmart said it hired more than 230,000 new staff to help with the demand. The long queues in front of Walmart resulted in the retailer earnings $1.18 per share in the first-quarter ending April 30, above the $1.12 per share expected from the analysts. Furthermore, Walmart’s revenue increased by 8.6% to $134.62 billion, again better than Wall Street’s expectations of $132.80 billion. Shares of Walmart then opened around 3% higher on better-than-expected results. However, the buyers failed to protect those gains, which ultimately resulted in the stock closing 2.1% lower on the day. This is a bearish development that will continue to have a negative impact on the stock in the short-term.

Hi Marko, thanks for your question. Exor, the biggest Italian company by market capitalization, is having a rough period lately. A move in the stock price that you are referring to took place after the proposed sale of the reinsurance business collapsed. Exor was in talks with the French insurer Covea for a sale of the “PartnerRE” reinsurance business. Although these two reached an agreement on a $9 billion deal, Covea asked Exor to renegotiate the terms of the deal, which the Italian giant refused to do. Ultimately, Covea pulled out of the talks. “The news is undoubtedly negative. From a qualitative standpoint Exor shows that it does not need to sell and sends a clear message to those speculating on a possible revision of the merger with PSA terms, showing that it is not willing to change what agreed,” Equita SIM’s Martino De Ambroggi said. As a result, shares of Exor dropped 10% last week. The bearish move was also boosted by the fact that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV - where Exor owns a controlling stake - decided to suspend dividends for 2019, a move that is likely to cost Exor around $340 million. I suspect that Exor stock can trade in a positive fashion given the latest headlines concerning the giant. Therefore, I’d stay away from the stock for the time being.

Hi Fernando, thanks for coming here. As you have probably seen in the media, Gold prices hit a fresh 7-year high on Friday, as the investors fear the escalation in tensions between the US - China. The buyers forced a price action to trade above $1,760 for the first time since 2013. "The outlook is positive for next week. Trade conflicts have resurfaced and pressure on [the] Fed is building to bring rates below zero. On the other side Donald Trump has spoken for [a] strong dollar," said Jigar Trivedi, research analyst at Anand Rathi Shares. Therefore, I'd say that gold is still a “buy the dip” trade. Any pullback to $1,700 - $1,750 is likely to be seen as an opportunity to get on the long side. Looking in the short-term, the $1,770 is a key intraweekly resistance and a place where the 127.2% Fibonacci extension sits. A break above this level opens the door $1,805 which is the next level of interest for the buyers.

Hi John, thanks for trusting us with our assessment. A Bat pattern is a harmonic pattern that looks very similar to the Gartley pattern. Both are continuation patterns as they help the overall trend to extend higher. As with every other harmonic pattern, the Bat has a structure that is based on Fibonacci numbers. This structure should follow the following rules: XA - Any bullish or bearish move classifies as the XA leg. AB - The retracement of the initial XA move should end between 38.2% and 50%, signalling a strong initial trend. BC - The point BC takes place in the same direction as the overall XA move. It is supposed to finish at either 38.2% or 88.6% of the AB move. CD - The point D comes at either 161.8% extension of the BC leg if there was a 38.2% retracement in BC, or 261.8% extension of BC if the prior move retraced to 88.6%. XD - Once the point D is set, it should account for the 88.6% retracement of the initial XA leg. The point D is where we should place our buy/sell signal. Stop-loss order is supposed to take place below/above the point X, while take profit orders are best to be staggered, from the point B, then D and finally X. Ultimately, the Bat pattern almost always offers a very attractive R:R (risk and reward) ratio that makes the entire trade very appealing.

Hi Fernando, thanks for the question. Libra Association was launched last year as a new global payment system developed by Facebook. The project faced numerous difficulties so far, including the departure of Visa, Mastercard, eBay, Stripe, and Mercado Pago. The Libra Association said it amended its whitepaper last month in an attempt to finally receive a green light from the regulators. The project was very present in the media lately after it was announced that the well-respected financial executive Stuart Levey agreed to join the project as the new CEO. His latest role was at the banking giant HSBC, where he acted as a Chief Legal Officer. The digital coin project was also boosted after Temasek, one of the world’s largest investment firms in the world, agreed to support the project and therefore become the first state-owned company to join the Libra Association. “Temasek’s efforts to support and advance the use of blockchain technology across a range of use cases, asset classes and sectors, reflects its drive to explore, develop and invest in solutions to bring about a better, smarter, and more sustainable world,” the Libra Association said in a statement after Temasek joined the project. Despite numerous legal and regulatory difficulties, Libra is still aiming to launch the first Libra tokens before the end of this year.

Hi Michael, thanks for asking this question. Gartley is the most popular version of the harmonic pattern. It is based on the Fibonacci sequences and it aims to identify levels of potential interest on both sides. We make a distinction between the bullish and bearish versions of Gartley, with both helping the overall trend to extend. For this reason, Gartley is considered to be a continuation chart pattern. As other harmonic patterns, Gartley has five points - X, A, B, C, D. The rules for verifying a Gartley pattern are: XA - The XA leg initiates an uptrend or a downtrend and everything starts from here. AB - The mark B should end around the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement. BC - The point C is expected to end at either on the 38.2% Fibonacci level, or on the 88.6% Fibonacci level of the AB leg. CD - If the BC leg is finished at 38.2% of AB, the CD leg should end at 127.2% extension of BC. If the BC leg ended at 88.6% of AB, then CD should be the 161.8% extension of BC. XD - Finally, the XD retracement should end at 78.6%. The last point, D, is a buy/sell signal for us. This is where you should place your order with a stop below/above it. You can calculate the profit-taking order by involving other technical indicators.

Hi Trevor, thanks for asking this question. This is one of those topics that is usually reserved for financial analysts as the majority of the trading community would like to focus on price action and not the financials. Still, the PEG ratio is a valued tool that is used to value a stock. You calculate it by dividing a stock's P/E ratio by the growth rate of its earnings per share for a certain period of time e.g. 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, etc. The formula looks like this: PEG Ratio= EPS Growth Price/EPS Hence the PEG is heavily based on the EPS and P/E ratio. Analysts also calculate the forward PEG and the trailing PEG. The first is based on the upcoming projections of the earnings growth, while the second uses figures from the past.

Hi Michael and thanks for the question. Looking at today’s price action, Ripple is struggling to keep its head above $0.20 after it was dragged below $0.2150. This is a very important level for Ripple technically, which can determine the price action direction in the short-term. The break also meant that Ripple broke below the ascending wedge to print the new 1-month low around the $0.1750 handle. This zone is likely to play an important role again given that it capped a previous attempt to break lower. Separately, Ripple company confirmed that it is working on a new lending solution that will be based on XRP tokens.