Dow Jones Industrial Average
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is recovering nicely from its early August low, but until the price rises above the downtrend line connecting the mid-July high to the late July high, it will remain in a downtrend. Although components Cisco Systems and Walmart are now making new highs, that is not enough to push the Dow 30 as a whole above the mid-summer highs.
The daily price chart for industrials looks like this:
Dow Jones Industrial Average daily price chart, 8 15 24.
4 Dow Jones Industrial in decline.
Boeing (NYSE:BA).
Boeing daily price chart, 8/15/24.
The aircraft maker peaked in December and then began to fall rapidly as reports of problems with its 737s hit the news. The stock traded at $265 at the end of last year and is now at $168 after hitting a low of $160 in late April. The red dotted line connecting the December 2023 high to the late July high shows the trend.
Note that the stock remains below the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Congressional hearings and a criminal investigation are not helping matters. Boeing has been a component of the Dow Jones since March 1987 – more than 30 years.
Chevron (NYSE: CVX).
Daily Chevron price chart, 8 15 24.
The price of the giant oil and gas company (market capitalization: $269 billion) tends to follow the direction of the oil price and has not been above previous highs recently.
The sell-off of almost all products in early August brought Chevron down to the level of its January lows, but those lows held and the price recovered. Still, the stock is trading below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, which is not encouraging.
Disney (NYSE:DIS).
Walt Disney daily price chart, 8 15 24.
The company recently beat earnings expectations, but the theme park business isn’t what it once was. The investment firm led by Nelson Pelz just sold a significant portion of its Disney holdings. Morgan Stanley analysts upgraded the stock to “overweight” on August 5 and cut the price target to $110 from $130.
From a high of $122 in early April to a low of $85 in early August, that’s a remarkable 30% drop for a Dow component, and that’s in just 4 months. Disney has recovered in recent days, but is still well below its 50- and 200-day moving averages.
Intel (NYSE:INTC).
Daily Intel Price Chart, 8 15 24.
The semiconductor company is laying off around 15% of its employees and recently “suspended” its dividend. In early August, analysts were busy downgrading their ratings on Intel: Mizuho downgraded it to “neutral” from “outperform,” HSBC Securities downgraded it to “reduce” from “hold,” and BofA Securities downgraded it to “underperform” from “neutral.”
Note that both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages are trending downward, and the stock is trading below both. The red dotted line connecting the late January high to the early April high further shows how severe the decline is. The bounce of the last few days is small compared to the recent sell-off.
