General Motors shares gain for a second straight session on Wednesday, company to discontinue monthly reporting of its US vehicle sales

According to a statement by General Motors Company (GM) earlier this week, it intends to discontinue reporting its US vehicle sales on a monthly basis, as the 30-day time frame is not an accurate reflection of the market. Instead, the auto maker is to report vehicle sales on a quarterly basis. Still, monthly data will be provided to the US Federal Reserve, government agencies and industry associations worldwide, but it will not be disclosed to the public.

General Motors shares closed higher for a second consecutive trading session on Wednesday. The stock went up 2.95% ($1.09) to $38.03, after touching an intraday high at $38.13, or a price level not seen since March 16th ($38.15).

In the week ended on April 1st the shares of the largest vehicle manufacturer in the United States added 3.33% to their market value compared to a week ago, which marked the third gain out of four weeks. It has also been the best performance since the week ended on January 7th.

The stock has extended its advance to 4.62% so far during the current month, following a 7.65% slump in March. The latter has been a second straight month of losses.

For the entire past year, General Motors shares rose 17.65% following another 2.44% gain in 2016.

GM executives have been concerned that monthly US sales comparisons among different auto manufacturers may be disrupted by short-term discount programs as well as differences in their strategy for bulk sales to rental car fleets.

“Thirty days is not enough time to separate real sales trends from short-term fluctuations in a very dynamic, highly competitive market”, Kurt McNeil, US vice president for sales operations at GM, was quoted as saying by Reuters.

LMC Automotive senior executive Jeff Schuster addressed GMs move to abandon monthly sales reports, saying it was “not that big a deal”.

“As an industry, we’ve gotten used to the monthly sound bites and have focused too much on the ‘noise’”, LMCs Schuster noted. “Maybe we should focus more on the ‘why’”, he added.

GM’s decision could urge other auto industry representatives to begin reporting their US sales on a quarterly basis as well.

According to CNN Money, the 23 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding General Motors Companys stock price, have a median target of $48.00, with a high estimate of $60.00 and a low estimate of $31.00. The median estimate is a 26.22% surge compared to the closing price of $38.03 on April 4th.

The same media also reported that 10 out of 25 surveyed investment analysts had rated General Motors Company’s stock as “Hold”, while other 10 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 2 analysts had recommended selling the stock.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, todays levels of importance for the General Motors stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $38.23
R2 – $38.43
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $38.63
R4 (Long Breakout) – $39.23
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $39.93
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $40.34

S1 – $37.83
S2 – $37.63
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $37.43
S4 (Short Breakout) – $36.83
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $36.13
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $35.72

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for General Motors Company (GM) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $35.79
R1 – $37.07
R2 – $37.81
R3 – $39.09
R4 – $40.38

S1 – $35.05
S2 – $33.77
S3 – $33.03
S4 – $32.30