Since early September many of the large cap tech names have been moving basically sideways. Amazon (AMZN) shares are a perfect example. They have been headed right on the chart in an increasingly tight series of lower highs and higher lows. The price action formed a symmetrical triangle or wedge pattern on the daily chart. To be more exact the pattern is called a rising wedge because the consolidation came after the uptrend that began earlier this year.
Note that Amazon’s 50 day moving average runs right through the middle of the wedge pattern (dashed red line). On this chart, I reset the Bollinger bands indicator to use that 50 day moving average as its centerline. Normal Bollinger bands are constructed two standard deviations around the 20 day average. We have changed the centerline average. The outer bands of this 50 day average hybrid remain the usual two standard deviations above and below the average. With the 50 day average moving nearly horizontally the two standard deviation bands have marked the most volatile moves away from the average and helped to define the triangle.
These modified Bollinger band limits may help to confirm an ultimate breakout or breakdown in Amazon’s wedge pattern.