The share price of Southwest Airlines ( LUV) has been sliding in recent days. Thursday's decline has done more damage to the technical landscape so let's check our landing gear.
In the daily bar chart of LUV, below, I can see that share prices made a rapid rise in June and then a quick downside reversal of fortunes. LUV gapped below its 50-day and 200-day moving average lines.
Trading volume has been more active in the past three to four months. The On-Balance-Volume (OBV) line has followed prices to the upside and now to the downside. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) oscillator is still above the zero line but has crossed to the downside for a take profit sell signal.
In the weekly Japanese candlestick chart of LUV, below, I can see some bearish signs. The shares show us an upper shadow on approach towards $40 and this tells us that traders rejected the highs.
The weekly OBV line slowly improved from May but it has also rolled over in recent weeks. The MACD oscillator is still below the zero line.
In this daily Point and Figure chart of LUV, below, using even-dollar scaling I can see an upside price target in the $59 area.
In this second daily Point and Figure chart of LUV, below I used a percent change movement in plotting the stock. Here the software tells us that prices have reached a downside price target in the $33 area.
Bottom-line strategy: LUV is correcting to the downside. Prices may hold around $33 but there are no guarantees here. Traders should avoid the long side of LUV until prices stabilize.
