Caterpillar’s Big Candle at the 50-day SMA

Caterpillar was the best performing member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the last year with a gain of more than 115 percent. It’s paused since mid-February and now the chart is showing renewed signs of life.

First and foremost is the 50-day simple moving average (SMA). CAT bounced at that line several times, including late October and mid-January. The bears tried to break it in on April 29 but prices keep closing above it. That shows buyers are still active.

In fact, Tuesday morning was one of those times as sellers drove the industrial giant back under $226. They retreated a few hours later, resulting in a large bullish outside candle. It was also the highest close in the past month. Those signals could bring new money off the sidelines.

Finally, the recent range has been so tight that Bollinger Band Width has squeezed to its narrowest reading since August 2017. That moment, by the way, was followed by a breakout to new highs.

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