ISIS Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ISIS)

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. engages in the discovery and development of antisense drugs using novel drug discovery platform. The company’s flagship product, KYNAMRO injection, is an apo-B synthesis inhibitor for patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia for the reduction of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. It also has a pipeline of 28 drugs in development for the treatment of cardiovascular, severe and rare, neurologic, and metabolic diseases, as well as cancer. The company has collaboration agreements with AstraZeneca to discover and develop antisense drugs against five cancer targets; Biogen Idec to develop and commercialize ISIS-SMNRx for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy; and Bristol-Myers Squibb to discover, develop, and commercialize antisense drugs targeting proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9.
Please take a look at the 1-year chart of ISIS (Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) below with my added notations:

ISIS has rallied quite nicely for most of the year. Over the last 3 months, the stock seems to have hit a wall at $40 (red). A move through that level would be a 52-week high breakout and should mean much higher prices for the stock. ISIS has currently been holding at $36 (green), so a break below that probably means a fall back down to the previous $30 support (blue).

The Tale of the Tape: ISIS has a key level of resistance at $40. A long trade could be made on a break through that level, with a stop placed under $40. Traders could also enter a long at $36, or a short on a break below $36.

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This is the Key to Gold’s Comeback

For investors having a rooting interest in the price of gold, the catalyst for a recovery may be in sight.

“Buy gold if you believe in math,” Brent Johnson, CEO of Santiago Capital, recently told CNBC viewers.

Johnson says central banks are printing money faster than gold is being pulled from the ground, so the gold price must go up.

And Johnson is on the right track, but central banks have partners in the money creation business — commercial banks.

And while the Fed has been huffing and puffing and blowing up its balance sheet, banks have been licking their wounds and laying low. Money has been cheap on Wall Street the last five years, but hard to find on Main Street.  (more)

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AECOM Technology Corp (NYSE: ACM)

AECOM Technology Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides professional technical and management support services for public and private clients in worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Professional Technical Services (PTS) and Management Support Services (MSS). The PTS segment offers planning, consulting, architectural and engineering design, and program and construction management services for a range of projects, including highways, airports, bridges, mass transit systems, government and commercial buildings, water and wastewater facilities, and power transmission and distribution. The MSS segment provides program and facilities management and maintenance, training, logistics, consulting, technical assistance, systems support and integration, technical personnel placement, and field services primarily for agencies of the United States government.
ACM has confirmed a head and shoulders (H&S) pattern. Please take a look at the 1-year chart of ACM (AECOM Technology Corporation) below with my added notations:

After going almost nowhere this past year, ACM created a key level of support at $28 (blue). That $28 level was also the “neckline” support for ACM’s H&S reversal pattern. Above the neckline you will notice the H&S pattern itself (red).
Remember, patterns such as an H&S need to confirm to have the meaning that they imply. Confirmation of the H&S would occur if the stock were to break below its $28 support, and as you can see, ACM did exactly that last week.

The Tale of the Tape: ACM has confirmed a head & shoulders pattern and should be moving lower. A short trade could be entered on any rallies up to or near the previous $28 level. A break back above $28 would negate the forecast for a move lower and create an opportunity for a long trade.
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US Weekly Economic Calendar

time (et)	report	period	Actual	CONSENSUS forecast	previous
MONDAY, DEC. 23
8:30 am	Personal income	Nov.	0.2%	0.4%	-0.1%
8:30 am	Consumer spending	Nov.	0.5%	0.5%	0.4%
8:30 am	Core PCE price index	Nov.	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
8:30 am	Chicago Fed national activity index	Dec.	0.25 (3-mo)	--	0.12 (3-mo)
9:55 am	UMich consumer sentiment index	Dec.		82.9	82.5
TUESDAY, DEC. 24
8:30 am	Durable goods orders	Nov.		2.0	-1.6%
9 am	FHFA home price index	Oct.		--	8.5% y-o-y
10 am	New home sales	Nov.		440,000	444,000
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 25
	Christmas Day None scheduled
THURSDAY, DEC. 26
8:30 am	Weekly jobless claims	12/21		N/A	379,000
FRIDAY, DEC. 27
	None scheduled

 
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