Merck & Co. is a global health care company that delivers health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Co.'s segments are: Pharmaceutical, which includes human health pharmaceutical products that consist of therapeutic and preventive agents for the treatment of human disorders, and human health vaccine products that consist of preventive pediatric, adolescent and adult vaccines; and Animal Health, which discovers, develops, manufactures and markets veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines and health management solutions and services, as well as a suite of digitally connected identification, traceability and monitoring products.
When researching a stock like Merck, many investors are the most familiar with Fundamental Analysis — looking at a company's balance sheet, earnings, revenues, and what's happening in that company's underlying business. Investors who use Fundamental Analysis to identify good stocks to buy or sell can also benefit from MRK Technical Analysis to help find a good entry or exit point. Technical Analysis is blind to the fundamentals and looks only at the trading data for MRK stock — the real life supply and demand for the stock over time — and examines that data in different ways. One of those ways is to calculate a Simpe Moving Average ("SMA") by looking back a certain number of days. One of the most popular "longer look-backs" is the MRK 200 day moving average ("MRK 200 DMA"), while one of the most popular "shorter look-backs" is the MRK 50 day moving average ("MRK 50 DMA"). A chart showing both of these popular moving averages is shown on this page for Merck. |
Video: Technical Analysis