Eye on Target After ER

Good Tuesday Morning, MPTraders!  February 28, 2023-- Pre-Market Update: Today is the final trading day of February (yes, there IS a month-end option expiration at 4 PM ET)... Otherwise, the BIG Story this AM (I guess) is TGT Earnings. The company beat The Street's expectations on EPS and Revenues but reported lower operating margins, and provided an unusually wide range of potential results going forward. 

In reaction to Earnings, TGT initially nosedived in an algo-knee-jerk decline from yesterday's close at 166.81 to 157.80 (-5.6%), but immediately recovered well into positive territory, hitting a post-Earnings pre-market high at 176.88 (+6%). As we speak, TGT is circling 169-170, up 1% to 2% from Monday's close. 

One look at my attached 4-Hour Chart shows some perspective of TGT's intermediate-term price action: Sideways, sideways, sideways, in the grasp of a well-defined range between (roughly) 140-145 on the low side and 175-180 on the high side. 

So far, this particular earnings report is NOT the one that will move the needle enough to propel TGT up and over the hump-- the upper boundary zone (175-180) into a bull phase. Purely from a technical perspective, the most compelling reason to park capital in TGT is for defensive purposes-- a big cap, "safe" retail cash n' carry name that will provide some "security" as long as the US consumer hangs in there (admittedly debatable) and as long as the Fed avoids a hard landing scenario. Bottom Line: As long as any forthcoming weakness in TGT is contained ABOVE this AM's post-Earnings spike low at 157.80, I consider it a Neutral, defensive holding... Last is 169.50

Thursday afternoon, COST (Costco) reports earnings. I will post my chart work later today...