American Express (AXP) is scheduled to report its fourth-quarter numbers on Friday before the market open. Let's review the charts and indicators to see whether investors have been discounting the news from the credit card giant.
In this daily bar chart of AXP, below, I see two trends. The first trend is a downtrend from February to September. The second trend is a sideways to slightly lower trend from August to January. Prices have made lower highs from August but equal lows in July and October. A higher low can be seen in December. Rallies in AXP have been failing at the declining 200-day moving average line until now. Prices are slightly above the 200-day line and above the rising 50-day line. The On-Balance-Volume (OBV) line shows a decline into December and the start of a recovery period in January. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) oscillator has been moving around the zero line and is just slightly above it now.
In this weekly Japanese candlestick chart of AXP, below, I see a mixed picture. Prices are slightly above the 40-week moving average line after correcting lower the past year. Lower shadows in October and January tell me that traders are rejecting the lows. The OBV line shows a modest recovery from June. The MACD oscillator has improved from October but has not yet crossed above the zero line.
In this daily Point and Figure chart of AXP, below, I see an upside price target in the $182 area.
In this weekly Point and Figure chart of AXP, below, I can see the same $182 price target as the daily chart above.
Bottom line strategy: I have no knowledge of what AXP is going to report, but aggressive traders could probe the long side of AXP at current levels, risking $142. The $182 area is my price target.
