rewrite this title The Daily Breakdown: Microsoft Approaches Key Technical Level

The Daily Breakdown takes a look at the week ahead as stocks and crypto try to find their footing. Microsoft tests a key technical level.

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What’s Happening?

The crypto slide has been brutal, with investors asking themselves why this asset group has come under such intense pressure. Some blame a stablecoin issue for October 10th — the day the selloff really kicked off. Others are pointing to too much leverage and a lack of liquidity. Whatever the cause, it has Bitcoin on pace for its worst monthly performance (currently down ~22%) since June 2022. Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Stellar, and Dogecoin are all down at least 15% this month, too. 

Earnings

In the stock world, it’s a short trading week. US markets are open for normal trading Monday through Wednesday, are closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving, and are open for trading from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. ET on Friday for a shortened session. 

Despite the shortened trading week, a few companies will still report earnings, including: Zoom Video on Monday, then Nio, Abercrombie & Fitch, Dick’s Sporting Goods, JM Smucker, Dell, Zscaler, and HP Inc. on Tuesday. Li Auto and Deere will report on Wednesday. 

Econ is Back!

Now that the US government is reopened, key economic reports are popping up on the schedule. Tuesday will be a big day when it comes to measuring consumer health, with the monthly retail sales and consumer confidence reports, while Wednesday will feature the jobless claims report.

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The Setup — Microsoft

Microsoft has been a major beneficiary of the AI trade this year, which helped propel the stock from around $350 in early April to more than $550 over the summer. Now pulling back, bulls are looking for support around the prior all-time high from July 2024 near $468, as well as the rising 200-day moving average. 

If this area holds as support, then Microsoft stock may be able to rebound after a ~15% decline from its record highs. However, if this area does not hold as support, the recent selling pressure can continue, sending MSFT shares lower. 

Options

As of November 21st, the options with the highest open interest for MSFT stock — meaning the contracts with the largest open positions in the options market — were the January 2026 $500 calls, followed by the $520 calls. Some investors might speculate that some of these positions are being held as a $500/$520 bull call spread. 

Investors who are bullish could consider calls or call spreads as one way to speculate on further upside, while bearish investors could consider puts or put spreads to speculate on a further move to the downside. For options traders, it may be advantageous to have adequate time until the option’s expiration. 

To learn more about options, consider visiting the eToro Academy.

What Wall Street’s Watching

NVO

Shares of Novo Nordisk are under pressure this morning, falling about 10% to new 52-week lows on reports of a failed Alzheimer’s drug trial. Some investors are arguing that the stock’s decline is an overreaction, as this treatment was a bit of a longshot to begin with. Shares of Eli Lilly are down slightly this morning, while Biogen is up about 5%. Check out the chart for NVO. 

GOOGL

Alphabet stock is again rallying this morning, up about 4% in pre-market trading. The question now is, can it stay above $300? The stock has cleared this level in regular-hours trading, but has failed to close above it in three straight sessions. This morning’s rally comes as Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff praises Alphabet’s AI model, Gemini. Dig into the fundamentals for GOOGL.

Disclaimer:

Please note that due to market volatility, some of the prices may have already been reached and scenarios played out.