4 Trade Ideas for Amgen: Bonus Idea

Here is your Bonus Idea with links to the full Top Ten:

Amgen, $AMGN, comes into the week pushing back over its 20 day SMA and out of a mini falling wedge. This was after bottoming at the 50% retracement of the prior leg high and near the 200 day SMA. The RSI is rising up off a consolidation in the bearish zone with the MACD crossed up and moving higher. The Bollinger Bands® have squeezed in, often a precursor to a move. There is resistance at 278.50 and 283.50 then 290.25 and 301 before 306 and 311. Support lower sits at 274 and 268.50 then 261.50. Short interest is low at 2.1%. The stock pays a dividend with an annual yield of 3.26% and will not trade ex-dividend until May 16th.

The company is expected to report earnings next on April 25th. The April options chain shows biggest open interest at the 265 strike on the put side and rising activity from 270 to a peak at 300 on the call side. The May chain has biggest open interest at the 280 put and at the 285 and 310 call strikes. The June chain shows open interest spread from 300 to 200, biggest at 270 and 200 on the put side. The call side has it spread from 280 to 380, biggest at 300 and 350.

Amgen, Ticker: $AMGN

Trade Idea 1: Buy the stock on a move over 279 with a stop at 268.50.

Trade Idea 2: Buy the stock on a move over 279 and add an April 267.50 Put ($2.80) while also selling the May 305 Call ($2.27).

Trade Idea 3: Buy the April/May 300 Call Calendar ($2.55) while selling the April 265 Put ($2.14).

Trade Idea 4: Buy the June 250/290/310 Call Spread Risk Reversal ($1.05).

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After reviewing over 1,000 charts, I have found some good setups for the week. These were selected and should be viewed in the context of the broad Market Macro picture reviewed Friday which with the March FOMC meeting in the books, saw equity markets showed strength moving higher despite the continued tone of rates staying higher for longer.

Elsewhere look for Gold to continue its consolidation in a bull flag at the highs while Crude Oil continues the messy uptrend. The US Dollar Index looks to drift to the upside in consolidation while US Treasuries consolidate in their downtrend. The Shanghai Composite looks to continue the short term uptrend while Emerging Markets consolidate in a broad range.

The Volatility Index looks to remain very low and stable making the path easier for equity markets to the upside. Their charts look strong, especially on the longer timeframe with the SPY at a weekly high and the IWM and QQQ consolidating the recent moves higher. On the shorter timeframe both the QQQ and SPY also look strong making fresh all-time highs Thursday before dropping toward filling gaps Friday on profit taking. The IWM looks to have established a higher range. Use this information as you prepare for the coming week and trad’em well.