Salesforce.com stock has pulled back to a historically bullish trendline
Blue-chip tech name Salesforce.com, inc. (NYSE:CRM) is up 1.1% to trade at $259.10 this afternoon. The security has pulled back on the charts since its Aug. 26, annual high of $275.22, though the $252 level has contained the negative price action. This dip has also placed CRM near a trendline with historically bullish implications, giving investors plenty of reason to believe that the stock could soon surge closer to its record levels.
Specifically, the equity just came within one standard deviation of the 40-day moving average, after spending roughly one month above this trendline. According to data from Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, eight similar signals have occurred in the past three years. Salesforce.com stock enjoyed a positive return one month later in 88% of those cases, averaging a 5.7% gain. From its current perch, a similar move would put CRM over the $272.50 mark, which is just shy of the stock's all-time peak.
An unwinding of pessimism in the options pits could also help the equity climb. This is per Salesforce.com stock’s Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.08, which stands higher than 95% of readings from the past 12 months. This suggests short-term options traders have rarely been more put-biased.
Now seems like a good opportunity to weigh in on CRM's next move with options. The equity's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 25% sits in the relatively low 14th percentile of its annual range. This means options players are pricing in low volatility expectations for Salesforce.com stock right now.