3 Bullish Bollinger Band Breakouts

There are a countless number of metrics and chart indicators that technical analysts use to determine buy and sell signals in the stock market. One of the more popular tools available is Bollinger Bands.

Bollinger Bands were developed by famous trader John Bollinger. Bollinger bands consist of a dotted simple moving average (typically a 20-day average) and then a solid upper and lower boundary line plotted two standard deviations above and below the dotted line.

Technicians use a number of different Bollinger trading techniques, but here are three stocks that recently broke above their upper Bollinger boundary, a bullish short-term signal.

1. FXCM Inc FXCM

FXCM has had some major momentum since mid-December, and its push this week has it trading above its upper Bollinger Band. FXCM could soon be headed for a re-test of its post-crash high of $27.90 back in March.
 

2. SUPERVALU INC. SVU

SUPERVALU shareholders are likely ready to put 2015 behind them at this point. Despite a down year, the stock has shown some short-term positive momentum that recently pushed it above its upper Bollinger Band. However, a previous Bollinger breakout to a similar level in late November only led to a subsequent decline back down to the lower Bollinger Band.
 

Related Link: Apple's Chart Indicates A Tough Start To 2016 Ahead
 

3. NeoPhotonics Corp NPTN

NeoPhotonics’ recent push to a new multi-year high also carried the stock above its upper Bollinger Band. Of the three Bollinger breakouts discussed, this stock looks to have the strongest technical outlook for the longer-term investment horizon. Assuming the stock stays above the $11.20 level, the chart indicates very little resistance above.

Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.