In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lion

The wintry weather in the northeast on this first day of spring is not the only thing defying the old saying that the month of March "comes in like a lion, but goes out like a lamb." Specifically, equities as a whole have come under a bit more general pressure than bulls would like to see, albeit with quite a few individual stocks laughing off yesterday's distribution day on the Nasdaq.

Facebook, however, is no laughing matter, as the social giant commands our attention due to its market cap and overall status as one of the Nasdaq's premier issues for a good while now.

As this first quarter of 2018 winds down, FB threatens a fairly prominent reversal candle as seen on its quarterly chart, below. 

We still have the rest of this week and then next week's holiday-shortened trading before that candle is complete, but at the moment FB is also now below its 200-day simple moving average on its daily chart. Bear in mind, topping is often a long, drawn-out process and not a singular event. So, I would not at all be surprised if FB sees some initial buying interest soon in longs declaring the latest news flow to be overblown. 

Nonetheless, the issue as it pertains to the technicals is that we still have a remarkably steep leading chart now showing some cracks in the foundation. I especially want to see if bounces are sold in the coming weeks, perhaps setting up a swing short entry headed into summer trading and beyond. 

While FB potentially in the long-term topping process may seem to be prima facie evidence of a broader Nasdaq top, bears should note the rotation this year into TWTR and away from FB. TWTR, for all of its warts, is improving and a bull scenario would see the bird taking the baton from Zuck.