Tesla Continues To Show Weakness Heading Into FOMC: Is A Bounce On The Horizon?

Tesla, Inc TSLA was sliding over 1% in the premarket on Wednesday after breaking down from a bear flag on Tuesday, which Benzinga pointed out the day prior.

The EV giant has shown weakness compared to some other top stocks in the S&P 500, plunging over 48% from the Sept. 21 high of $313.80. In contrast, the S&P 500 has gained about 4% since that date but has been partly weighed down by Tesla and Amazon.com, Inc AMZN.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s decision to focus much of his attention on Twitter since taking over the company in late October has weighed on Tesla. Musk has also used his newly acquired microblogging website to vocalize his political beliefs, which may be hurting his image and alienating some consumers.

See Also: Musk's Bankers Reportedly Plan To Book Losses On Twitter Deal As Social Media Firm Undertakes Extreme Cost-Cutting

Musk has attributed Tesla’s poor stock performance to macroeconomic conditions and took to Twitter on Tuesday to post that “Tesla will be great long-term, but doesn’t control macroeconomic tides.”

The Twitter CEO has also been vocal about the Federal Reserve’s decisions to hike interest rates this year and last week he warned that if the Fed hikes rates again in December, the recession will be greatly amplified.

The Federal Reserve is set to release its policy statement at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, where it is widely expected to raise the benchmark interest rate by 0.5%.

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The Tesla Chart: After breaking down from the bear flag, Tesla has completed about 12% of the measured move. If the entire measured move is eventually completed, Tesla could fall another 8%.

• The break down from the bear flag confirmed that Tesla is trading in a daily downtrend, with the most recent lower high formed on Friday at $182.50 and the most recent confirmed lower low printed at the $169.06 on Dec. 8. Eventually, Tesla will rebound and traders will be watching to see if the stock formed another lower high or if Tesla can surge above the $183 mark to negate the downtrend.
• Although Tesla is likely to be affect by the movement in the general market later this afternoon when the Fed releases its decision, the stock has been moving in opposition to the market recently, which could mean that Tesla will lag a potential bullish move. If Tesla bounces, traders can watch to see if the stock prints a reversal candlestick near the $180 mark, which could indicate the downtrend will continue.
• Bullish traders will be watching for the bullish divergence, which has been developing on Tesla’s chart since Nov. 9, to play out. Bullish divergence occurs when a stock makes a series of lower lows but the relative strength index makes a series of higher lows, which indicates bullish momentum could be returning.
• Tesla has resistance above at $166.71 and $177.59 and support below at $152.19 and at the psychologically important $150 level.

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