Oil and Energy SPDRs Receive Bearish Signals
The oil industry and the various other energy industries associated with oil production have been on really nice rallies over the last two months. The gains seemed to be propelled by vaccine news and the hope that the world economy would get back on track sooner than thought.
The Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) gained 56% from its October low to its high a few weeks ago. The fund quickly shifted from oversold to overbought and it moved above its 52-week moving average during the rally. Unfortunately the weekly stochastic readings made a bearish crossover last week and appear as though they may be headed out of overbought territory—a possible bearish signal.
The SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP) experienced an even greater gain, rallying 66.9% from its October low to its high two weeks ago. The XOP also saw its oscillators move from oversold territory to overbought territory during the rally and it also moved above its 52-week moving average. In this case the fund hadn’t been above the moving average in over two years.
Like the XLE, the XOP saw its weekly stochastic indicators make a bearish crossover while in overbought territory. We see similar instances in June and January of this year and back in April 2019. In all three of these previous instances, the XOP dropped considerably in the months that followed. The same pattern can be seen on the XLE weekly chart.
I imagine if you went through the weekly charts of the stocks that are holdings in these funds you would see a number of them following the same pattern.
Looking at the Tickeron Screener, 24 of the 26 stocks in the XLE are rated as a “sell” on the Tickeron Scorecard with only one “buy” and one “hold” rating. In the XOP, 35 of 42 receive a scorecard rating of a “sell” while five are rated as a “buy” and two have “hold” ratings.
If we look at the fundamental and technical indicators for the two funds, the XLE has one negative and one positive indicator on the fundamental side. On the technical side it gets two positive indications, but five bearish ones. The XOP doesn’t have any positive indicators from the fundamentals and it has one negative. On the technical side it has two bullish signals and four bearish signals.
The Tickeron comparison between the two ETFs shows how each fund ranks against one another and against other funds. We also see that there have been a number of signals generated on the funds in recent weeks.
Momentum Indicator for XLE turns positive, indicating new upward trend
XLE saw its Momentum Indicator move above the 0 level on March 17, 2025. This is an indication that the stock could be shifting in to a new upward move. Traders may want to consider buying the stock or buying call options. Tickeron's A.I.dvisor looked at 91 similar instances where the indicator turned positive. In of the 91 cases, the stock moved higher in the following days. The odds of a move higher are at .
Technical Analysis (Indicators)
Bullish Trend Analysis
The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) for XLE just turned positive on March 14, 2025. Looking at past instances where XLE's MACD turned positive, the stock continued to rise in of 43 cases over the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
XLE moved above its 50-day moving average on March 14, 2025 date and that indicates a change from a downward trend to an upward trend.
The 10-day moving average for XLE crossed bullishly above the 50-day moving average on March 21, 2025. This indicates that the trend has shifted higher and could be considered a buy signal. In of 16 past instances when the 10-day crossed above the 50-day, the stock continued to move higher over the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
The 50-day moving average for XLE moved above the 200-day moving average on March 10, 2025. This could be a long-term bullish signal for the stock as the stock shifts to an upward trend.
Following a 3-day Advance, the price is estimated to grow further. Considering data from situations where XLE advanced for three days, in of 369 cases, the price rose further within the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
XLE may jump back above the lower band and head toward the middle band. Traders may consider buying the stock or exploring call options.
Bearish Trend Analysis
The 10-day RSI Indicator for XLE moved out of overbought territory on March 27, 2025. This could be a bearish sign for the stock. Traders may want to consider selling the stock or buying put options. Tickeron's A.I.dvisor looked at 44 similar instances where the indicator moved out of overbought territory. In of the 44 cases, the stock moved lower in the following days. This puts the odds of a move lower at .
The Stochastic Oscillator entered the overbought zone. Expect a price pull-back in the foreseeable future.
Following a 3-day decline, the stock is projected to fall further. Considering past instances where XLE declined for three days, the price rose further in of 62 cases within the following month. The odds of a continued downward trend are .
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Category Energy