Pioneer Natural Resources: Buy, Sell or Hold?

Shares of Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD)  were trading lower Friday following an earnings and revenue miss. Should we sell? Stand pat? Or look to be a buyer?

In our October 18 review of PXD we wrote that “Traders who were stopped out of their PXD longs could rebuy shares at current levels or on strength above $260. Risk to $220. The $373 area is our new price target.” 

Let’s check the charts again. 

In this updated daily bar chart of PXD, below, we can see a large outside day and probably a lower close for PXD. This one day reversal pattern is more widely followed in the futures community than the equity market. Still, prices are pulling back and Real Money readers have asked for an update.

Even with today’s correction, PXD is still above its rising 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The daily On-Balance-Volume (OBV) line shows improvement from late September. The Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) is above the zero line but starting to narrow. 

 

In this weekly Japanese candlestick chart of PXD, below, we can see an upper shadow telling us that traders are rejecting the highs. The 40-week moving average line is still going up and below the market but this is a lagging indicator.

The weekly OBV line is overall positive and the MACD oscillator was turning upwards. 

 

In this daily Point and Figure chart of PXD, below, we can see the latest price action with a column of “O’s”. A trade at $280 will refresh the uptrend and a trade at $240 may be needed to turn the chart bearish.  

Bottom line strategy: What should traders do? It is too soon to tell in my opinion, but traders should raise sell stops to $238.