Anticipating Upside In Verizon

by Mike Paulenoff
July 7, 2024 • 2:06 PM EDT
This week's selection for our Top Call -- VZ (Verizon Communications) -- is less a function of its recent success and more a reflection of Mike's technical setup work that projects gains in the days and weeks ahead.
On June 17, one of our MPTrader members (FJB) alerted us to his fundamental work on VZ. After seeing his positive comments, Mike Paulenoff posted the following technical interpretation of the pattern setup:
"... somewhere above 36.00, VZ should reverse into another upleg within its budding bull phase, and coupled with the juicy dividend, FJB is on to something that could be a rewarding name in any portfolio, but especially a portfolio that you want to reinforce with cash-generating companies when the relentless clamor for Info Technology names takes a breather... Last is 39.24... (6/17/24)..."
Then on July 1st, Mike commented:
"This AM, Goldman Sachs initiated VZ coverage with a Buy Rating, and a target price of $50. At the moment, VZ is up 0.8% at 41.60, but the GS research "endorsement" has not powered the name above its dominant down trendline off of the December 2020 high at 61.95 that cuts across the price axis in the vicinity of 42.50 this week. That said, however, the technical setup-- i.e., the positive juxtaposition of the up-sloping 200 Week MA, and the positive upturning Weekly Momentum gauges suggest strongly that as long as 39.00 contains any forthcoming weakness on a closing basis, VZ is a keeper, especially for anyone who feels the need to adopt a more defensive posture during the potential uncertainties likely approaching during the upcoming weeks. Finally, don't forget the VZ dividend pays 6.5%!.. Last is 41.61... "
This past Friday July 5, VZ closed at 41.27, a full 5% above Mike's June 17 post to our members, but if his work proves accurate, there is much more upside ahead, and for this reason VZ is high on our radar screen during Q3, 2024.
Login to join Mike and MPTrader members this week for their ongoing opportunistic fundamental and technical discussions about VZ and many other stocks, macro indices, sector ETFs, commodities, precious metals, and Bitcoin.

Last Tuesday afternoon, hours before CAVA (Cava Group) was scheduled to report Earnings, this is what I posted for MPTrader members:CAVA reports Earnings after today's close. Approaching the news, CAVA is circling 61, a full 40% beneath its April 2026 high at 98.79, amid an unconfirmed new corrective low at 60.21 yesterday (8/10/26), leaving CAVA positioned for a "buy-the-news" setup (the opposite of a sell-the-news setup in a name that is up 30% to 40% approaching Earnings).
Good Sunday Afternoon, MPTraders! Last Thursday afternoon, ahead of AAPL's Earnings, this is what we discussed about the stock's probable price path in reaction to the news:Unless AAPL produces something extraordinary, or otherwise announces some unknown bullish catalyst, my pattern work has a very difficult time expecting anything other than a "best-case" sell-the-news scenario in reaction to Earnings. I can make a compelling argument that the upleg from the 6/26/26 low at 273.33 to the 7/29/26 ATH at 344.
XOM (Exxon Mobil)-- Back on May 19, 2026, a fellow MPTrader member requested an update on XOM. This is what we discussed at that time:My attached Daily Chart setup shows my preferred scenario calling for a near-term peak of the current upmove from the 4/17 low at 141.97 to a target zone from 162 to 165, followed by a rollover and press lower that revisits and possibly breaks the 41/7 low, which also will complete the larger corrective process from the 3/30/26 ATH at 176.41.
Pharma Update: MRK and LLYOn Wednesday (6/24/26), this is what we discussed about MRK:MRK as well, which we see on my attached Daily Chart exhbits a VERY BULLISH technical setup-- quite the opposite of beleaguered PFE. My pattern work argues that all of the price action from the 2/25/26 high at 125.14 represents a high-level bullish digestion period and pattern atop the major upleg from the May 2025 low at 73.31.
On January 2, 2026, this is what I posted about CAVA (Cava Group Casual Mediterranean Cuisine) to MPTrader members:After CAVA's meteoric climb from 29.00 in October 2023 to an ATH at 172.65 in November 2024, the stock rolled over into a relentless decline that hit its low at 43.