ChartWatchers

BIOTECH ETF HOLDING ON

Chip Anderson

Chip Anderson

President, StockCharts.com

Although last week's broader market was under pressure, the long forgotten Biotech HOLDRs (BBH) showed surprising resilience, and, in fact, is on the cusp of a major breakout. If you'll recall, BBH has underperformed badly in the past, even while posting very good earnings. That puts BBH in the categories of "value" and "defensive," code words used to describe a security in which money will flow in a market decline. Thus, we can make a fundamental and technical case to be buyers.

From a technical perspective, BBH has a history of rising very sharply, then consolidating prices for a year or two. This current consolidation began in early-2005 – making it nearly 2 ½ years old. Classical technical analysis tells us that the longer the base – the more sustained the move. Thus far, previous support has held at $158, which is just above the rising 200-week moving average. Too, prices are hard upon the 80-week moving average at $171 – a level we think will be handily broken in the days and weeks ahead, given the 14-week Stochastic is turning higher from oversold levels.

Therefore, the technical setup is rather good. It really doesn't get much better than this as they say. Our target on the trade is above $220.

Chip Anderson
About the author: is the founder and president of StockCharts.com. He founded the company after working as a Windows developer and corporate consultant at Microsoft from 1987 to 1997. Since 1999, Chip has guided the growth and development of StockCharts.com into a trusted financial enterprise and highly-valued resource in the industry. In this blog, Chip shares his tips and tricks on how to maximize the tools and resources available at StockCharts.com, and provides updates about new features or additions to the site. Learn More