Prime Example Of An Untradable Stock

Prior to the opening bell on Tuesday, Fastenal (FAST) confessed to below consensus revenues and EPS, normally a big problem for a stock.  Sure enough, FAST fell approximately 4% on the open Tuesday, providing short sellers a quick profit.  The problem, however, is that FAST is trading within a multi-year trading range off of an uptrend.  The failure of earnings news to generate a breakout or a breakdown could result in this long-term trading range continuing for quite some time.  Furthermore, the current price resides exactly in the middle of price support and price resistance.  It's simply not a trading candidate at current price - in my view.  Take a look:

The above long-term pattern is bullish so I guess I'd err on the long side if I had to trade it, but it could be months or even years before we see a breakout.  Therefore, my only interest here would be if FAST were to drop closer to the bottom of this trading range.

Happy trading!

Tom