Starbucks (SBUX) continues to deal with employees looking to unionize and Thursday's headlines that workers are going on strike does not help their image. Let's check out the charts and indicators of the global coffee chain giant.
In the daily bar chart of SBUX, below, we can see a small bottom in May/June and a rally into November. Trading volume does not show us a clear pattern of expansion from the lows to the recent high -- this is not what chart watchers want to see. Rising volume in an uptrend is the preferred picture.
The daily On-Balance-Volume (OBV) line has followed prices higher but is not a vigorous advance. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) oscillator is bullish.
In the weekly Japanese candlestick chart of SBUX, below, we can see a doji pattern for the latest weekly candle. A doji is a balance between buyers and sellers and the open and close for the week are the same or nearly the same. Weakness in the price of SBUX this week will confirm a top reversal. The slope of the 40-week moving average line is flat/bottoming.
The weekly OBV line is pointed up but it may not take much for the upward trend to be broken. The MACD oscillator just crossed above the zero line for an outright buy signal.
In this daily Point and Figure chart of SBUX, below, we can see a potential upside price target in the $113 area.
In this weekly Point and Figure chart of SBUX, below, we see a target in the $133 area. Not bad should it play out.
Bottom-line strategy: The new CEO of SBUX will have his plate full and while he seems to be up to the task I can imagine that he may not be able to overcome some of the problems ahead that are out of his control. Traders should take a sidelines stance on SBUX.
