Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. (NM)

[Chart Addict]

Navios Maritime Holdings in perspective.

On June 26 of this year, crowds cheered as the Chinese Cosco container vessel Andronikos made the first ceremonial pass through the Agua Clara locks of the Panama Canal carrying over 9,000 containers.

The event marked the opening of an $6.87-billion Cdn expansion of the technological marvel that is the Panama Canal. The massive project tripled the size of the ships that can traverse its waters, effectively doubling the Canal's capacity. The renovations offer the potential to reduce global maritime costs by an estimated $10.46 billion a year.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a major news event. And, it is one with a tremendous impact on the global maritime shipping industry. Never has the old adage "a rising tide lifts all boats" been more apropos.



Whether this event will prove to be the major catalyst for a longer term sector breakout remains to be seen, but this much is certain: individual stock prices are greatly influenced by the sector they are in, and every sector breakout will have its leaders and laggards.

Among the leaders at this time is Top Ships (TOPS) which provided a spectacular breakout without any warning last week. The stock surged from just above $1.50 a share to quite nearly $5.00 before closing on Friday at $4.04, marking a 25.47% increase during the day. Its weekly gain tallied up to a rather respectable 162.24%.



Navios Maritime Holdings had a good week as well, closing at $1.19 while chalking up gains of 21.44%. From a technical standpoint, it now faces overhead resistance from the 200 day MA at around $1.27, as well as resistance from the 40 week MA at about the same level. It appears to be standing on a clearly formed foundation of a long-term multiple bottom. The battle lines are quite clearly drawn.



No stock should be studied in isolation, and there are some similarities to be found among some of the other charts in this sector. By way of example, Diana Shipping (DSX) also appears to be coming out of a complex bottom, with the battle lines against a declining 200 day MA and the 40 week MA clearly delineated. DSX has formed a tight flag that is not a typical downward-declining bull flag. I consider this setup to be intriguing.



Nimble traders may find some good opportunities for very short term swing trades in this sector over the coming weeks. I may just fall back on my strategy of hopping on board a few momentum plays on Wednesday, and closing out those positions on Friday's market close. It's always nice to have a little extra pizza money in your pocket over the weekend.

All charts this time around courtesy of Finviz.com, which offers a very refreshing change from having to sort through the OTCQX, downloading spreadsheets, and making up watch lists for charting. (Those Canadian mining companies really put me to work this summer with their Over the Counter TSE equivalents).