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Can Facebook Stock Hold 50-Day Support Amid Usage Fears, F8 Show?

Facebook ( FB ) is falling in quick turnover for a second session in a row amid concerns that users are not sharing as many personal posts. The Information reported last week that Facebook saw a 21% drop in original posts from mid-2014 to mid-2015, and that it is working to correct that decline. Meanwhile, privately held social media competitor Snapchat is all about personal shares. Facebook-owned Instagram is also a hub for personal posts. The social media giant has indicated that it’s just the type of sharing that has changed on its main platform, not the level of sharing. Facebook’s annual F8 developer conference begins tomorrow, where chatbots are expected to be a hot topic. That could open a new revenue stream for businesses looking to interact with their customers on a social platform. But tech giants still have a lot to learn when it comes to chatbots. Microsoft ’s ( MSFT ) experiment with teen chatbot Tay quickly went south. Facebook shares dropped 0.5% in heavy volume, breaching the 50-day line in intraday trade. If the stock is able to find support at the 50-day line, then it’s not necessarily in trouble. But if it breaks through that level in heavy volume, that would be bearish. Shares are trading 6% below a cup-with-handle base buy point of 117.09. Microsoft is trading 4% below its late-December high and a consolidation buy point at 56.95, which is 10 cents above the high. The stock was up 1% midday Monday. Facebook last week rolled out its Live platform globally, with expanded features — edging into Twitter ’s ( TWTR ) realm, which includes its Periscope live streaming platform. Twitter is still searching for positive catalysts to revive its shares. Last week, it signed a pact with the NFL to live stream 10 Thursday Night Football games. Twitter is in an extended downtrend, trading 68% below its 52-week high. The stock edged 0.4% higher Monday. Among other widely held tech stocks, Google owner Alphabet ( GOOGL ) is working on a cup-with-handle base with a 777.41 buy point. It’s trading 2% below that level, up 0.4% in intraday trade. And Apple ( AAPL ) was back above the 110 price level, rising 1.2%. Apple is nearing its downward sloping 200-day line, but its recent attempts to retake that level have failed. Apple stock is 18% below its late-April peak. Image provided by Shutterstock .

Apple, Facebook, Netflix Stocks Facing Key Technical Tests

Facebook ( FB ), Apple ( AAPL ) and Netflix ( NFLX ) are among the coolest and widely used tech companies. But their stocks have struggle to break through key levels in recent sessions. Facebook is trying to stay in sight of a buy point, while Apple and Netflix keep bumping into resistance at their 200-day moving averages. Facebook A Buy, or Bye-Bye? Facebook holds its big F8 Developers Conference on Tuesday and Wednesday, with analysts and investors eager to hear what Mark Zuckerberg has on offer. The stock has formed a cup-with-handle base that started when it peaked at 117.59 on Feb. 2. The buy point was 117.09. But Facebook is moving away from a buy area. Shares fell 2.7% on Friday and 4.7% for last week. Facebook fell 0.4% in afternoon trade on the stock market today after falling intraday as low as 108.77, briefly undercutting its 50-day moving average. Facebook users are posting less on the site, according to Friday reports that helped pushed the stock lower. Get a better read on Facebook’s stock health and how it stacks up vs. rivals at IBD Stock Checkup Apple Looks To Break Above 200-Day Apple rallied nearly 18% from its recent low of 92.39 on Jan. 28 to 108.66 on Friday but was still down 19% from its record high of 134.54 set in April 2015. Apple stock rose 1.2% in afternoon trade Monday, making another run at its 200-day line. Twice last week Apple closed within 20 cents of its downward sloping 200-day moving average. The stock hasn’t closed above the line since early October. Apple recently released a new 4-inch iPhone SE along with a smaller iPad Pro. Both have gotten solid reviews, but neither is likely to be a huge blockbuster. Apple is expected to post its first year-over-year sales decline in years later this month. Sales may continue to struggle at least until Apple releases its iPhone 7 later this year. Netflix Seeks To Rewrite Script Netflix hasn’t closed above its 200-day average since Jan. 20. Twice last week the stock crossed that technical line intraday but ended below that level. Netflix rose 0.5% in afternoon trade after three straight fractional losses. On Friday, Wall Street analyst Richard Greenfield said Walt Disney ( DIS ) should buy Netflix. A Disney-Netflix deal would give the Mouse a leader in video streaming and provide a possible future leader in Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. That unsolicited advice didn’t move Netflix’s stock though. Netflix is spending heavily on expansion and content. While revenue growth has been strong and consistent, profits have fallen for the last three quarters and aren’t projected to rise until Q4 2017. But analysts are betting on powerful earnings growth from 2018-2021.

European Leak Shows Officials May Blackball U.S. Data Transfer Pact

European advocates might blackball a compromise allowing American companies like Facebook ( FB ), Google ( GOOGL ) and Amazon ( AMZN ) to continue trans-Atlantic data transfers, according to a leaked document. The Article 29 Working Party is set to unveil its official decision Wednesday, but portions of a leaked document — since deleted — suggest the privacy officials are hedging on approving the European Union-U.S. agreement. Privacy advocates have railed against the initial agreement, released in late February, calling it too flimsy. The agreement would replace the 15-year-old Safe Harbor accord monitoring data transfers between the U.S. and EU. A European court struck down the Safe Harbor agreement in October, saying U.S. privacy laws aren’t up to snuff with their EU counterparts. Now, the EU needs approval from the Article 29 Working Party to move forward on formalizing the new agreement, which would allow the U.S. intelligence community to collect “bulk” intelligence for six specific purposes. German lawyer Carlo Piltz posted the leaked document, which says, in part, “some of the clarifications and concerns — in particular relating to national security — may also impact the viability of the other transfer tools.” “Therefore, the WP29 is not yet in a position to confirm that the current draft adequacy decision does, indeed, ensure a level of protection that is essentially equivalent to that in the EU,” according to the document. Austrian grad student Max Schrems brought the original case against Facebook that shuttered the Safe Harbor law. In a statement following the new framework’s release, Schrems questioned European authorities’ view on the situation. “I unfortunately feel that the current policymakers within the European Commission have not seen this situation as an opportunity to work toward an improved framework that would protect the fundamental right to privacy, but instead as a problem that shall now be swept under the rug,” he wrote.