Shares of aerospace giant Boeing (BA) have been hammered thus far in 2024, with a negative year-to-date return of 44%. The stock’s underperformance versus its peers in the S & P 500 Aerospace and Defense Index is staggering, with most stocks in the group having had a strong year. With such a persistent down-move, investors are wondering when it might be time to step back in from the long side. A monthly chart of BA shows important long-term trendline support near current levels, near $147, with a big “cloud” of resistance denoted by the shaded area on the chart. The uptrend line would be a natural place for the stock to stabilize, noting the stochastic oscillator is deep in oversold territory. However, next week’s earnings report has the potential to create volatility, so we would take a wait-and-see approach before considering a position. Should the trendline be broken, it would be another setback for BA, increasing downside risk to secondary support near $120. Should oversold conditions yield stabilization, we would look for an upturn in the monthly stochastics > 20% as a positive long-term catalyst. Zooming in on the weekly bar chart, BA shows downside momentum per the declining 10- and 40-week moving averages. The 10-week MA frames initial resistance on the chart, near $162. A downtrend is pronounced in the ratio of BA versus the S & P 500 Index (SPX), as well, noting BA is making 24-year relative lows. The persistent long-term trend of underperformance suggests that the company has major problems, but 60% of fundamental analysts who publish research on BA still have “buy” ratings, with an average 12-month price target of about $197. This tells us to watch for reactions to oversold conditions in both absolute and relative terms. The underperformance from BA versus its peers is visually evident when charting it against the iShares U.S. Aerospace and Defense ETF (ITA) , which has cyclical and secular bull trends in place, making new all-time highs today. Relative to the S & P 500, ITA is in a bullish turnaround phase, which sets the group up well for outperformance in the months ahead. While BA has support in-line on its chart, we would wait for downside momentum to alleviate before considering a counter-trend position. For now, we would stay with the winners in the sector that remain in uptrends, such as GE Aerospace , Lockheed Martin , and RTX Corp . Once BA shows support discovery, ideally accompanied by an upturn in the monthly stochastics, we could have more confidence that a major low is in place. —Katie Stockton with Will Tamplin Access research from Fairlead Strategies for free here . 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