I spend much of my time talking about what I look FOR on a chart, so I thought it might be helpful to look at what would bother me if I was holding a stock into its earnings report. In the case of CPB, breaking down to new price lows on heavier-than-normal volume, breaking a triple-bottom low on its AD line, and seeing CPB trailing its food products peers ($DJUSFP) is not a comfortable combination at all. The bottom panel tells us that the DJUSFP is
one of the worst performing industry groups. Holding a relatively weak stock in an awful industry group into its earnings report would not make me feel very confident. Personally, I'd sell beforehand. That doesn't mean CPB will head lower after its earnings report, but I do believe the report itself is likely to be weaker-than-expected.
