Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is the only one of this year’s top five momentum stocks to continue its upward trend. The company’s hefty weight helped continue to carry key indexes like the S&P 500 to record highs as Wall Street continued the bullish trend that’s been witnessed throughout most of this year.
Apple still on a tear, Tesla not so much
In a post on The Street, Richard Suttmeier pointed out that Apple is the only one out of this year’s top five momentum stocks to keep gaining. The company’s stock has a year-to-date gain and is also still up since Nov. 12. That’s when analysts began to note that the characteristics of the market’s momentum were changing.
Apple has gained 45% so far this year and 4% since Nov. 12. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) remains up by 52% year to date, although the automaker’s shares have slipped by 8.6% since Nov. 12. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) is the biggest loser so far this year, as its shares have plunged 21%.
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) have also lost steam this year. Google has declined 3.5% so far this year, while Netflix has slumped by 3.5%.
The NASDAQ Composite Index has gained 14% so far this year.
Suggestions for trading Apple
Suttmeier offers some trading suggestions for investors who like to take advantage of the rapid gains posted by momentum stocks. For example, he notes that Apple hit its record high on Nov. 25 at $119.25 per share. That’s a 26% gain since the recent low point of $95.18 on Oct. 15.
Apple shares also remain significantly higher than their 200-day simple moving average of $93.03 per share and their 50-day moving average of $106.77 per share. The author states that Apple stock is overbought although its weekly chart profile remains positive. The company’s weekly moving average is at $111.15 per share.
Suttmeier suggests investors who want to get into Apple stock enter a “good ’til canceled limit order” to purchase on any weakness in the shares with a “key technical level” of $102.40 per share. He further suggested investors who want to take profits enter a “good ’til canceled limit order” to sell on any additional strength in Apple shares at a $126 per share key technical level.
Suggestions for trading Tesla Motors
The author points out that Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has slipped 25% since it hit $291.42 per share, its record intra-day high, on Sept. 4. The automaker’s shares remain just under the 200-day simple moving average of $232.18 per share. He adds further that Tesla’s weekly chart is negative and the automaker’s key weekly moving average is $242.15.
Suttmeier suggests investors who want to get into Tesla enter a good ’til canceled limit order to get into any weakness at $177.25 per share. Those who want to take profits, he suggests, should enter an order to sell on strength at a level of $286.05 per share.
