Delta Air Lines (DAL) is having problems breaking the ceiling on the charts around $52. A pullback is in progress, which may turn into a buying opportunity. Check your boarding pass and see what group you are in. I plan to check the visibility on the charts and won't charge any extra for the analysis.
In this 12-month daily chart of DAL, above, we can see that prices just broke below the rising 50-day moving average line. Prices made a rally from $36 in August to over $52 in December, with only slight pullbacks along the way, so a deeper reaction should not be a total surprise.
Volume has diminished from October, but the On-Balance-Volume (OBV) line has risen over the same period, telling us that despite the slower pace of activity, buyers of DAL have been more aggressive on days when DAL has closed higher. In the lower panel is the 12-day momentum study, which is showing a bearish divergence since November as prices make equal highs but momentum makes lower highs.
In this three-year weekly chart of DAL, above, you can see that DAL approached the $52 level in early 2015 and late 2015, as well as this December. $52 has not been broken and it is looking like a ceiling to further advances. The clouds may be clearing -- prices are above the rising 40-week moving average line. The weekly OBV line is positive above the zero line, but the MACD oscillator has narrowed towards a possible crossover and a liquidate longs sell signal.
Bottom line -- DAL is undergoing a short-term correction. I would look for prices to stabilize relatively soon and try the upside again. A trade at $53 should be a clear breakout to further gains.
