The usual bunch of thimble-riggers had AMZN down a hundred points on less-than-earth-shattering news out after the close. The company reported record earnings that evidently fell shy of estimates. Never mind that those who are paid princely sums to do the estimating are the proverbial thousand chimpanzees at their typewriters, one of whom will eventually type Hamlet. And no matter that AMZN is one of the few high-flying companies that is actually building a commanding brick-and-mortar empire in retail, as opposed to a digital chimera like Twitter, LinkedIn or Uber. If there is anything positive to say about AMZN’s headless-chicken hysterics, it is that the earnings evidently were not leaked ahead of the announcement. We know this because the stock rallied 55 points, or nearly ten percent, in the hours preceding the news. From a technical standpoint, AMZN now looks likely to fall to at least 526.11, the Hidden Pivot shown; or even to 488.80 if it takes out the higher number. This matters a great deal, since AMZN is a key bellwether, if not THE bellwether stock, and because it is one of the last stocks left in a dwindling group of world-beaters that is capable of leading the stock market higher. _______UPDATE (February 4, 12:25 a.m.): Don’t look now, but AMZN crushed the 526.11 downside target with yesterday’s sensational plunge. It opens a path to as low as 488.80, although it would be premature to infer at this point that it’s a done deal. Let’s see whether whatever minor retracements that are coming can get past midpoint resistance pivots. Tightly stopped shorts are encouraged from ‘p’ regardless._______ UPDATE (February 8, 12:59 a.m.): This morning’s plunge crushed the 488 pivot, opening a path to the new target shown, p2=449.40; or if any lower, D=419.69._______UPDATE (February 9, 6:55 p.m.): Bulls are struggling for traction, but they’ll need to push past a minor peak from last Friday at 512.45 to generate a bullish impulse leg on the hourly chart. A pullback from just above that number should be regarded as a buying opportunity. _______UPDATE (February 19, 1:26 a.m.): Yesterday’s opening bar spike may have trapped bulls, but the net result was to generate a bullish impulse leg capable of powering this bounce to as high as 533.27 over the near term. It depends on where the point ‘c’ low of this pattern lands on the 60-minute chart: a=511.66 (2/16); b=541.20 (2/18); c=523.73 (so far)._______ UPDATE (February 21): The rampage likely has farther to go, since Friday’s bear-trap squeeze pushed the stock above a clear midpoint resistance at 531.52 that’s tied to a 547.69 target. To get long ‘mechanically’, use p, or p2=539.61 of this pattern on the hourly chart: A=511.66 (2/16); B=544.00 (2/18); and C=515.35 (2/19).
