3 Charts For Investors to Watch Monday: Boeing, Berkshire Hathaway, Southwestern Energy

Here's our daily look at three charts tied to recent news-driven price moves, with key technical levels to monitor.

The Boeing Company

Seattle aerospace giant Boeing (BA) will be on investors’ radar today after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded more than 170 Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft for inspections following a panel detaching from an Alaskan Airlines (ALK) 737 Max 9 jet while in flight. Alaska and United Airlines (UAL)—the largest U.S. operator of the planes—have grounded their entire fleets of the popular twin-engine jet while investigations continue. Boeing's shares were down more than 7% before the opening bell on Monday. Boeing has said it fully supports inspections of the aircraft. The latest safety incident raises further scrutiny of Boeing’s best-selling 737 Max nearly five years after a two of the jets were involved in fatal accidents that led to a redesign of its flight control system software.

The Boeing share price has made a V-shaped recovery after a retracement below the 50- and 200-day moving average in October. Two key areas on the chart to watch include the $240 level and $200 region. The first may find support from the July/August swing high, while the second could see buying interest amid a deeper pullback near a multi-month uptrend line that extends to September 2022.

 Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Warren Buffet-run Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) may appear on watchlists Monday after the multinational conglomerate settled a billion dollar lawsuit with the Haslam family over a truck stop company. The trial, initially scheduled to commence today in Delaware Chancery Court, was to determine if Berkshire Hathaway had used pushdown accounting methods to significantly reduce the value it would have to pay to buy the family’s remaining 20% stake in Pilot Travel Centers (PTC), the largest truck-stop operator in the U.S. Berkshire had alleged that Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam enticed senior PTC executives with side payments to inflate the value of the company in order to receive a more attractive buyout from the financial conglomerate. Berkshire has been increasing its stake in PTC from the Haslam family since 2017, taking majority ownership of the company in January last year.

Berkshire Hathaway shares trended mostly higher throughout 2023 apart from several retracements to the 200-day moving average. More recently, the price trades between a 15-month uptrend line and the stock’s all-time high (ATH). If the price moves higher from current levels, monitor how it responds to the ATH around $373. Conversely, during retracements, keep an eye if buyers can defend the uptrend line and 200-day moving average, currently sitting near $351.

Southwestern Energy Company

Shares in Southwestern Energy (SWN) jumped over 7% on Friday after The Wall Street Journal reported that the energy giant sits poised to merge with Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK), a deal that would form one of the largest natural gas companies in the United States. People familiar with the negotiations told the Journal that a transaction could take place as early as this week. The development comes three months after Reuters reported that Chesapeake had approached Southwestern about a potential tie-up. Based on current figures, a merger of the two energy companies would see a combined entity valued at nearly $17 billion produce 7.4 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day, overtaking EQT Corporation (EQT) to become the largest U.S. gas producer.

Despite Southwestern shares forming a head and shoulders-like pattern—a chart formation often associated with market tops—the price had a convincing close Friday above the 50-day moving average on higher than average share turnover. In upcoming trading sessions, monitor if the price can hold above the pattern’s neckline and 200-day moving average. A breakdown below this crucial support level could see a test of last year’s lows around $4.60.

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As of the date this article was written, the author does not own any of the above securities.