Is Altria Breaking Out?

Published on Friday, 15 June 2012 08:36 Written by TradersHuddle Wire

New York, June 15th (TradersHuddle.com) - Shares of Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) closed the session at $33.68 just above calculated resistance at $33.47. The stock effectively broke out and grasped the attention of momentum traders, which could eventually push the stock to a different trading range.

Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO), its a holding company, parent of Philip Morris USA, John Middleton, and US Smokeless Tobacco Company. Altria, through its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes, and other tobacco products in the United States and internationally. It primarily offers cigarettes under the Marlboro, Virginia Slims, and Parliament brands; smokeless tobacco products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; and machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco.

The stock was trading in a well defined range with support at $28.25 and resistance at $33.47. Given that this range was broken, traders will be closely monitoring Altria's price action to gather clues on the future direction.

From a technical perspective, it can be expected that previous resistance becomes support, as the new range gets defined. However, given that Altria is still near the broken resistance level, traders will be focusing on the $33.47 level to see if the stock holds the breakout without rolling over.