Looking back at some historical performance on shares of Covanta Holding Corporation (NYSE:CVA), we can see that the stock price performance for the last week is 1.72%. Tracking back further over the past month, the stock has performed 5.91%. For the last quarter, shares have performed -1.28%. Going back to the start of the calendar year, company shares are 32.12%. If we scroll back to the full year reading, shares have performed 5.22%. Investors may be trying to figure out if it is a good time to get into a certain stock, or whether to exit a position that has been a loser. Whatever the case, outperforming the market is on the minds of many dedicated equity investors.
For technical traders, support and resistance lines play an important role. The support line generally displays the lowest price that investors will let a stock trade. This means that the stock price is unlikely to drop under this level. When support lines are breached, chartists may be watching for shares to move lower until they reach the next support level. The resistance line is the exact opposite of the support line. The resistance level is typically the highest price that investors will allow the stock to trade at. Traders will carefully watch the stock price when a resistance level is broken. The thought is that the price will continue to move towards the next level of resistance. Traders and investors may use support and resistance lines for various purposes. One popular use of these lines is to identify possible entry and exit points for trades.
We can now shift our focus to some alternate company data on shares of Covanta Holding Corporation (NYSE:CVA). The stock has a current ATR of 0.35. When applying indicators for technical analysis, traders and investors may choose to examine the ATR or average true range. The ATR measures the volatility of a stock on a day-to-day basis. The average true range is typically based on 14 periods and may be calculated daily, weekly, monthly, or intraday. The ATR is not considered a directional indicator, but it may reflect the strength of a particular move. As we move into the second half of the year, investors may be looking to jumpstart their portfolios. Many equity investors may be wondering if the stock markets will find renewed energy and continue higher, or if a major correction is on the horizon.
Shares of Covanta Holding Corporation (NYSE:CVA) have been recently spotted trading -4.08% off of the 52-week high price. On the other end, company shares have been noted 36.46% away from the low price over the last 52-weeks. Switching over to some distances from popular moving averages, we see that the stock has been recorded 4.57% away from the 200 day moving average. Moving closer, we can see that shares have been trading 2.04% off of the 20-day moving average. Investors may be closely following the current stock price in relation to moving averages. This may assist with figuring out if a breakout or reversal could be in the cards. Knowing when to ride the surge rather than stay on the sidelines, can be a difficult decision even for veteran investors.
Focusing on some other company information, we can see that Covanta Holding Corporation (NYSE:CVA) has a beta of 1.34. Beta indicates the tendency of a stock’s returns to respond to market swings. A beta of 1 indicates that the stock price moves with the market. A beta under 1 indicates that the stock is less volatile than the market in theory. A beta value over one would indicate the opposite. In terms of volatility, shares have been noted at 1.98% for the week, and 2.02% for the past month. Investors often keep a close eye on any irregular stock volume. Traders and technical analysts have the ability to use volume to help measure the strength of a particular move. Investors may also view volume levels when the stock price is nearing significant support or resistance levels, in order to confirm a breakout in either direction.
Stock market players may have differing opinions on which type of research approach is best. Individual investors who prefer buy and hold strategies may be more likely to be studying the fundamentals. Traders that are constantly buying and selling shares may be more concerned with technical analysis. High frequency traders may be willing to take on more risk entering the market. For these types of traders, entry and exit points become far more important. Traders may be relying solely on charts in order to capture profits based on day to day, hour to hour, or minute by minute price fluctuations. Long term investors may not be as concerned with the daily ups and downs of the market.
