Technical: Any dips= Buy opportunity

[Palm]

I really believe that a dip like this off of a new high is a perfect time to pick up more shares.  With all of the positive momentum we have going right now there is little reason to have much concern.  Wise money adds anywhere below $86.  Shorts have to be figuring out their exit strategy.  Seeing those 30k calls sitting out there in Sept at $100 ought to be a great confidence builder.  This thing is recoiling

[ValueSleuth]

I really believe that a dip like this off of a new high is a perfect time to pick up more shares.  With all of the positive momentum we have going right now there is little reason to have much concern.  Wise money adds anywhere below $86.  Shorts have to be figuring out their exit strategy.  Seeing those 30k calls sitting out there in Sept at $100 ought to be a great confidence builder.  This thing is recoiling

The stock has run into resistance in the $89 area (a Fibonacci number).

Given the overbought condition and weakness in the general market, it is probable that the stock will pull bac a minimum of $5-$8 (both Fibonacci numbers) and more likely about $13/share to the $76 area.  This would fill the mini-gap above $79 and follow the pullback pattern of this entire rise over the last several months.

We'll see if this prediction comes to pass.

In any event, any such pullback is yet another buying/trading opportunity.

VS

[tarulestheday]

I really believe that a dip like this off of a new high is a perfect time to pick up more shares.  With all of the positive momentum we have going right now there is little reason to have much concern.  Wise money adds anywhere below $86.  Shorts have to be figuring out their exit strategy.

Ahhhh, the beauty of millions of short shares in the form of captive buyers.  IOC really needs consolidation and new support levels. Recent support is at $75-76 range. Testing that would be very healthy.  Personally, I feel with all of the pending good news, we don't test those levels this time around.

http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=IOC&p=D&b=5&g=0&id=p50299129486

[ArtM72]

I resisted, then finally succumbed to the idea the gap up will always close, finally benefitting from that wisdom after wasting a lot of opportunities on a particular technology stock. I am once again torn by that old saw. Yes, Sleuth is probably right. IOC will have to go back to fill the gap. But the potential for a huge announcement just tells me the risk of trading at this level is just too great, which I think is TA's position. Bottom line, I'll buy a little more at $76 if it becomes available but I'm not selling now or anytime soon.

FWIW IMHUO the holdback on T2 data is either the result of some sort of drilling disaster or the result of some sort of political calculation. In the first case we would be being denied material information, in the second I suspect public release of the information could significantly impare negotiations. Either way, we were promised this information a long time ago and we haven't heard anything material from T2 for months. Methinks good news can be delayed longer and at less risk than bad.

[Palm]

Art, if T2 data were too bad I don't think PRE would have executed the deals they did. Last word was that they were doing thorough testing of the well's lower section. Wish I had more, but that's it.

[Gator]

For the past six weeks, the 20 day EMA has been support for IOC. The 20 day is $79.23 but rising rapidly.

[Orlando]

VS and Art, I appreciate your comments on the forum. While anything is possible and I could be wrong, I do not expect a dip below 80. In general, I think you are correct about gaps, but in this case I am not worried about a gap of .07 last week.

I went back and checked the Cove (COV.L) chart. Last Nov. 25/28 there is a gap from 80.50 (high on the 25th) to 86.00 (low on next trading day, 28th). That gap was never filled and it is around 239 now. While that is obviously a buy out situation, I believe that the trading dynamics of IOC and its sell down could be very similiar.

Not trying to scare anyone, but I am pretty sure I heard several years ago that there is a gap in the Dow Jones Industrial Average around 100 that has never been filled. Not Dow 10,000 or even Dow 1,000, but Dow 100! I do not expect that one to be filled. In the vast majority of cases, though, they do get filled.

[ValueSleuth]

VS and Art, I appreciate your comments on the forum. While anything is possible and I could be wrong, I do not expect a dip below 80. In general, I think you are correct about gaps, but in this case I am not worried about a gap of .07 last week. I went back and checked the Cove (COV.L) chart. Last Nov. 25/28 there is a gap from 80.50 (high on the 25th) to 86.00 (low on next trading day, 28th). That gap was never filled and it is around 239 now. While that is obviously a buy out situation, I believe that the trading dynamics of IOC and its sell down could be very similiar. Not trying to scare anyone, but I am pretty sure I heard several years ago that there is a gap in the Dow Jones Industrial Average around 100 that has never been filled. Not Dow 10,000 or even Dow 1,000, but Dow 100! I do not expect that one to be filled. In the vast majority of cases, though, they do get filled.

I only really pay attention to the filling of gaps when such would fit into other technical/pattern scenarios, even though most gaps get filled one way or another.

With respect to a potential IOC pullback:  Such would present another buying opportunity. My Fibonacci and gap filling exercise was speculating on the maximum one could expect given the circumstances.  Given that I think the market is headed to quite a pullback, IOC could have a short, sharp temporary sympathetic dump.  But, it is all just a speculative exercise to add to IOC once again.

Hopefully, not too many people have sold a substantial portion of their holdings in anticipation of buying back much lower.  Such a manouver could work out well, but in my opinion it is not worth the risk of a melt up while being largely out of IOC.  Given what we have here, I'd never forgive myself for missing "the big one."

VS