Will Altria Get Smoked After Earnings?

by Jon Lewis   07/15/09
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Altria (MO) is one of those "sin stocks," as it owns cigarette maker Philip Morris.

Speaking of sin, have you seen the price for a pack of smokes? Five to six bucks or more. Now I don't look at cigarette prices every day or even every week, but that seems awful high to me. Who can afford these things?

Anyway, back to Altria. Sin stocks are supposed to do well in recessionary times, but the jury's still out on MO.

The stock is trading where it did in mid-November. And it certainly hasn't outperformed the broader market.

On the charts, the stock is enjoying a lift from the overall market strength, and has poked above its 50-day moving averages this week.

That's certainly a plus, but the shares are now staring up at the $17 level, an area of chart congestion for the past five months. I don't think the stock has the inherent strength to break above this resistance.

altria

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