Ball (BLL) has had a stellar rise from 2001, but I think it probably doesn't resonate with investors like names associated with the cloud, or online shopping, or infrastructure.
BLL has pulled back in the past two months to fill most of a gap and test major support -- a good time to examine the charts.
In this 12-month daily chart of BLL, above, we can see that Ball Corp. is trading below the declining 50-day moving average line and it has broken the rising 200-day average line. BLL has tested and broken the 200-day line before, in June and July.
Now look at the On-Balance-Volume (OBV) line in the middle panel. The OBV line is stable in the first half of 2016 as prices rise and correct. Since late June, the OBV line rises strongly, indicating aggressive buying. As the price of BLL has declined in October and November, the OBV line has remained steady.
Overall, the OBV line suggests that buyers of BLL have been aggressive as prices broke out to new highs this summer and they have held those positions as BLL has retreated -- impressive. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) oscillator has been in bearish territory below the zero line since late October -- not a positive.
In this three-year weekly chart of BLL, above, we can see how resistance developed in 2015 and much of 2016 around $75. BLL had trouble breaking above that area. Prices finally broke out on the upside in August, but stalled above $80 and have pulled back to that prior resistance area.
Former resistance areas often turn into support zones when prices retreat. BLL is trading below the rising 40-week moving average line, but that could change quickly. The weekly OBV line turned up in early 2016 and has softened a bit in the past two months. The weekly MACD oscillator gave a liquidate longs sell signal in October, but it remains above the zero line.
Bottom line -- without a major top pattern, I would sooner anticipate that BLL holds in the $75 support area and tries the upside again by early 2017.
