By Jamie Chisholm

There is a fundamental reason why shares have been pushed back to the $200 mark.

As another Federal Reserve decision looms and U.S. political turmoil rocks markets, it can be easy to forget that stocks are dependent, albeit to varying degrees, on each company’s specific fundamentals. .

The recent action of Amazon.com (AMZN) stock is testament to this. A well-received earnings report from the online marketplace and cloud computing company saw its shares jump 6.2% on Friday.

But again, after numerous flirtations with $200 during the session, the stock failed to close above that mark. Report a lot of discontent among retail traders at online trading forum wallstreetbets.

One poster wrote: “But this $200 cap. Titanium.” Another posted: “Invisible wall AMZN 200 let me pass to Narnia NOW!!!”

Frustration is nothing new. As the chart below from Bespoke Investment shows, for several days in late July, the $200 barrier also pushed back Amazon’s uptrend.

Now, it’s quite common for large round numbers to be on the ceiling and floor at different times. But they also often prove fragile in the face of a determined dynamic. And from a technical perspective, chartists would have been salivating at the message sent by Amazon.com’s stock price, as it neared its peak again after a decline and several weeks of consolidation.

However, there are more than technical factors at play here. The problem for Amazon.com buyers is that it appears founder Jeff Bezos is using the $200 level as the point at which he’s looking to raise money. Lots of money.

“In March, it was reported that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos planned to sell up to 25 million shares of AMZN by the end of 2025. When AMZN unsuccessfully tried to cross the mark $200 in July, we quickly understood why,” says Bespoke.

Bespoke notes that insider trading records showed that Bezos apparently had a limit order to sell shares above $200. As the following chart shows, from July 2 to July 11, Bezos actually sold millions of shares per day at an average price just above $200.

“On July 11, Bezos’ last reported selling day, the stock no longer had enough buyers to follow Bezos’ sell orders and ended up trading lower. Since then, there has been no no more reported selling from Bezos, and the stock price “didn’t get anywhere near $200 again…until today (Friday),” Bespoke says.

Bezos’ July sales totaled more than 8 million, meaning he likely has a lot more of the expected 25 million left to go. Bespoke noted that as of Friday, some 80 million Amazon.com shares were traded, but only about 5 million at $200 or more, “so we’ll see how many more shares it managed to sell off when its next sales report of insiders will be filed”.

“For now, it appears that $200 will remain strong resistance until Bezos’s actions balance out,” Bespoke concludes.

Markets

U.S. stock index futures (ES00) (YM00) (NQ00) are higher early Monday as benchmark Treasury yields BX:TMUBMUSD10Y slide. The DXY Dollar Index is falling, while oil prices (CL.1) are rising and gold (GC00) is trading around $2,741 per ounce.

   Key asset performance                                                Last       5d      1m      YTD     1y 
   S&P 500                                                              5728.8     -1.37%  -0.39%  20.10%  31.44% 
   Nasdaq Composite                                                     18,239.92  -1.50%  0.56%   21.51%  35.33% 
   10-year Treasury                                                     4.307      2.10    27.40   42.61   -34.23 
   Gold                                                                 2753.6     -0.04%  3.44%   32.91%  38.74% 
   Oil                                                                  71.5       5.13%   -7.49%  0.24%   -11.64% 
   Data: MarketWatch. Treasury yields change expressed in basis points 

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The buzz

U.S. economic data due Monday includes factory orders for September at 10 a.m. Eastern Time.

Apple (AAPL) shares fell slightly after it was revealed that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) sold another 25% of its stake in the iPhone maker over the third trimester.

Shares of Marriott International (MAR) are down almost 2% after the hotel operator reported a lower profit despite an increase in revenue in its latest quarter, while the company also lowered part of its outlook for the year.

Nvidia (NVDA) will replace Intel (INTC) in the Dow, illustrating a changing of the technological guard and the fall of what was once an industry titan.

Viking Therapeutics (VKTX) stock is up 18% after the company demonstrated the success of its oral weight-loss drug in clinical trials.

Oil (CL.1) (BRN00) prices are higher after OPEC and its allies agreed to extend production cuts until the end of December.

The dollar (EURUSD) (GBPUSD) (USDJPY) and Treasury yields BX:TMUBMUSD10Y – which have rallied recently on expectations of a Donald Trump victory in the US election – are down after a weekend poll -end indicated that Democratic candidate Kamala Harris could win. the state of Iowa.

Companies reporting earnings after the close include Palantir Technologies (PLTR) and NXP Semiconductors (NXPI).

The best of the web

Sports writers and art critics trade jobs.

“Whiskey fungus divides Maine resort and angers booze giants”.

Workplaces are preparing for election clashes by canceling meetings and accepting remote work.

The graph

The latest Conference Board survey of consumers found that their confidence that stock prices will rise over the next year has reached a record high. This is the kind of optimism that can make nonconformists very nervous.

Best Tickers

Here are the most active stock tickers on MarketWatch as of 6 a.m. Eastern Time.

   Ticker  Security name 
   NVDA    Nvidia 
   TSLA    Tesla 
   DJT     Trump Media & Technology 
   GME     GameStop 
   SMCI    Super Micro Computer 
   AAPL    Apple 
   AMZN    Amazon 
   TSM     Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing 
   NIO     NIO 
   PLTR    Palantir Tecnologies 

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-Jamie Chisholm

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11-04-24 0850ET

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