With the albatross of a credit card security breach still hanging around its neck, it is no wonder that retail giant Target (NYSE: TGT) is out of favor on Wall Street. #-ad_banner-#In just the past week we’ve seen Cowen & Co.’s Consumer Tracking Survey report “meaningful decreases” in customer satisfaction. And Standard & Poor’s lowered the company’s credit rating a notch to A. But the charts tell a different story, and it is a good one. We can attribute the February rally, following weak fourth-quarter results, to excessive pessimism. The news was bad, but not… Read More
With the albatross of a credit card security breach still hanging around its neck, it is no wonder that retail giant Target (NYSE: TGT) is out of favor on Wall Street. #-ad_banner-#In just the past week we’ve seen Cowen & Co.’s Consumer Tracking Survey report “meaningful decreases” in customer satisfaction. And Standard & Poor’s lowered the company’s credit rating a notch to A. But the charts tell a different story, and it is a good one. We can attribute the February rally, following weak fourth-quarter results, to excessive pessimism. The news was bad, but not as bad as expected, and shares soared. And now after a four-week slide, it looks as if TGT is ready to break out again. (My colleague Marshall Hargrave made a similar call in January.) The February rally pushed the stock above the 50-day moving average for the first time since the data breach was reported in December. And the March pullback found support back at the moving average in what chart watchers call a successful test of the initial breakout. Johnny-come-lately bulls had a second chance to buy — and they took it. On-balance volume, which keeps track… Read More