Staples - NASDAQ 100 Enigma

Today I used Barchart to sort the NASDAQ 100 Index stocks to find the ones with the most frequent new highs in the last month and Staples (SPLS) the office supplies retailer was on the top of the list.  As I further researched the stock I have no idea why?

Barchart technical indicators:

• 96% Barchart technical buy signals
• Trend Spotter buy signal
• Above its 20, 50 and 100 day moving averages
• 13 new highs and up 30.32% in the last year
• Relative Strength Index 86.29%
• Barchart computes a technical support level at 17.48
• Recently traded at 18.13 with a 50 day moving average of 14.17

Fundamental factors:

• Market Cap $11.59 billion
• P/E 17.83
• Dividend yield 2.69%
• Revenue expected to shrink 2.40% this year and another 1.60% next year
• Earnings estimated to decrease by 3.34% annually for the next 5 years
• Wall Street analysts recommendations are all over the map with 1 strong buy, 1 buy, 14 hold, 3 under perform and a sell call on this stock

The 20-100 Day MACD has been the most consistent trading strategy on this stock.  Since revenue and earnings forecasts are negative and even the Analysts are in conflict I'd recommend a moving stop loss about 10% below the current high to protect your profits.