Akamai Technologies, Inc. (AKAM) - Head and Shoulders Above the Rest?

Shares of Akamai Technologies, Inc. (AKAM) have sprung to life today. Check out the weekly chart...

Chart Courtesy of Thomson Financial

You may remember that Akamai made last week's list of stocks that were leading the PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQQ). In that post we saw that shares of AKAM were also showing some signs of skepticism.

The stock is heavily shorted and analysts are on the sidelines. According to Zacks, only 9 of 20 analysts (45 percent) rank the stock with a "buy" rating.

What intrigues me about the weekly chart is the bounce along support (grey zone) and the break of the intermediate-term downtrend (red line). I think an argument could also be made that an inverse head and shoulders pattern is forming.

From the early-2007 peak to the lows in January this year, shares of AKAM lost around 50%. A selloff of that magnitude is often followed by a basing period characterized by sideways action. The stock appears to be in that phase now. With the break of the downtrend complete, the next step for the shares would be to break above the upper end of the sideways range, near 40.

A push above 40 would also be important to my colleague Justin Acuna. I was discussing the stock with him and he noted that a push above 40 would be significant in terms of the inverse head and shoulders setup.

With room for upgrade and the potential for short covering, this could be a stock to keep an eye on...

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