LCA-Vision (LCAV) Plants Long-Term 'Buy' Signal With Short-Term Move

It's been a long-time in the coming, but LCA-Vision Inc. (NASDAQ: LCAV) is actually trending higher now. In fact, a series of technical buy signals fired following Tuesday's big 8% rally. Among the key signals include a simultaneous cross back above the 20, 50, and 200 day moving average lines.

Though slightly overbought in the short-term, and with a suspicious lack of volume behind the intra-day swing, LCAV still represents an enormous long-term rebound opportunity now that the paradigm shift is in place.

Note that LCA-Vision will likely meet turbulence near the resistance level around $8.00. Waiting for a cross above that mark would be wasted time, so it's not advised to hold off on a purchase until that hurdle is crossed. Just know that the area could be an obstacle when the time comes.

The most advantageous aspect of this chart is the incredibly slow pace at which the reversal happened... a slow, bowl-shaped move. Given that rebounds tend to mirror the selloff, investors can reasonably expect LCAV to slowly continue building momentum over the next several months.

As far as corporate performance is concerned, that's LCA-Vision's Achilles' heel. For 2009, the company lost $33.2 million, or $1.79 per share. That's disastrous in comparison to the loss of $6.6 million, or 36 cents per share, in 2008. Yet, the Q4 'beat' offers a glimmer of hope for a turnaround.

The estimated loss of $0.73 per share for 2010 still stands, but that clearly didn't stand in the way of Tuesday's buying; perhaps the buying will become more deserved as the year wears on, and Tuesday's bulls were acting preemptively.