AT&T shares gain for a second session in a row on Friday, pre-trial preparations said to be going smooth

According to lawyers for the US Department of Justice and AT&T Inc (T), preparations for a trial, that is to decide whether the wireless and pay TV company may acquire Time Warner Inc, have been going smooth.

AT&T shares closed higher for a second consecutive trading session on Friday. The stock edged up 0.37% ($0.14) to $38.14, with the intraday high and the intraday low being at $38.16 and $37.80 respectively.

In the week ended on January 7th the shares of the communication service provider lost 1.90% of their market value compared to a week ago, which marked a second consecutive period of decrease. It has also been the worst performance since the week ended on November 5th.

However, due to recent gains, the stock has pared its loss to 1.90% so far during the current month, following a 6.87% surge in December. The latter has been a second consecutive month of gains.

For the entire past year, the shares of the NYSE-listed company retreated 8.58%, following a 23.60% surge in 2016.

During a pre-trial status conference, Craig Conrath, a Justice Department lawyer, said that depositions had been held by the government on January 4th and January 5th.

According to Daniel Petrocelli representing AT&T and Time Warner, 41 depositions are planned by the US Department of Justice. The lawyer also said that the US government had had 35 potential witnesses on a preliminary list and AT&T had put 22.

The US Justice Department has attempted to prevent AT&T from acquiring Time Warner for $85 billion due to concerns such an event might raise prices for competitors as well as for pay-TV subscribers and hinder on-line video development.

The upcoming status hearing is scheduled for January 19th.

The trial, which will decide the matter, is scheduled to be initiated on March 19th and is expected to run 15 days.

According to CNN Money, the 21 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding AT&T Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $39.00, with a high estimate of $48.00 and a low estimate of $23.00. The median estimate is a 2.25% surge compared to the closing price of $38.14 on January 5th.

The same media also reported that 18 out of 28 surveyed investment analysts had rated AT&T Inc’s stock as “Hold”, while 6 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 1 analyst had recommended selling the stock.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, today’s levels of importance for the AT&T stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $38.17
R2 – $38.21
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $38.24
R4 (Long Breakout) – $38.34
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $38.45
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $38.50

S1 – $38.11
S2 – $38.07
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $38.04
S4 (Short Breakout) – $37.94
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $37.83
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $37.78

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for AT&T Inc (T) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $38.15
R1 – $39.05
R2 – $39.95
R3 – $40.85
R4 – $41.74

S1 – $37.25
S2 – $36.35
S3 – $35.45
S4 – $34.54