The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (NasdaqGM: IBB) and rival biotechnology ETFs just cannot seem to stay out of the limelight this week.
Those are the breaks when a previously high-flying, beloved sector comes under siege. Heading into Friday’s trading session, IBB was sporting a five-day loss of 9.1%, but to be fair, no biotech ETF has traded higher in recent days. [Biotech, Other Momentum ETFs Languish]
IBB’s status as the largest biotech ETF (it is home to $4.9 billion in assets under management) means it is the biotech ETF that traders use as a proxy for the sector. To that end, IBB has been on the receiving end of ample technical analysis this week with at least one technician saying the ETF is still honoring ts uptrend and another being bold enough to say an opportunity for a bullish reversal trade could be afoot. [Bold Call on the Biotech ETF]
Another technician is not impressed with IBB’s prospects.
“Speaking of head and shoulders patterns (H&S for short), IBB could potentially be forming such a topping pattern over the next month or two. The breakdown off the potential head of the pattern has come on heavy volume, which is a necessity for a quality H&S topping pattern,” writes Deron Wagner of Morpheus Trading Group.
Traders looking to be short IBB can wait for the ETF to fall to the $225 area as one technical analyst noted or wait for a rally to stall out in the $240 to $250 area as Wagner highlights. [Biotech ETF Honors Uptrend]
“If/when $IBB bounces off the lows, a three to four week bounce to the $240 – $250 area would be ideal, and where we would look for a low-risk short entry to emerge,” said Wagner.
iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF
