The stock price of online shopping, name your price company Priceline.com Incorporated (PCLN) has displayed some wild swings over the past almost decade and a half. The stock peaked-out at $990 in April 1999, and last Friday August 9th, some thirteen years later the stock finally re-tested, actually marginally surpassed, the $990 level. Of course plenty of stocks take a long time to re-capture all time highs, in fact, some never recapture old highs. What’s so nutty in the case of Priceline.com Incorporated (PCLN) however is that for roughly half the time of this fourteen year time-span, the stock traded below the $40 mark, and as low as around $6.00. If we take an average price of that seven year period – somewhere around $20 – the recently re-tested price near $990 is fifty-fold the $20 mark. That is one wild swing, regardless of it all taking place over a thirteen year time-frame.
The most recent spike in the stock came post the company’s latest earnings announcement after the bell last Thursday, August 8th. On Friday morning August 9th Priceline.com Incorporated (PCLN) jumped 6.50% at the open on big volume only to close the day up less than 4.00%. In other words, the $990 high from April 1999 was surpassed on a intraday basis but not on a daily closing basis. Somewhat troubling for bulls in this stock is the waning momentum with which it has ascended since June, granted this is a phenomenon we are seeing across the US stock market. In the immediate-term the stock here would do well to consolidate last Friday’s spike higher somewhat, which is to say that I am not in the camp of chasing the stock higher right here right now. Healthy action as such would included a closing of the up-gap from last Friday, i.e. a re-test of the breakout level near $935. From there the bulls will like to see some backing and filling to form a tighter base from which the stock can move higher again.
