Alliance Data Systems is a provider of data-driven marketing, loyalty and payment solutions serving consumer-based industries. Co. operates in two segments: LoyaltyOne® and Card Services. LoyaltyOne provides coalition and short-term loyalty programs through the Canadian AIR MILES® Reward Program and BrandLoyalty Group B.V. Co.'s Card Services business is a provider of private label, co-brand, general purpose and business credit card programs, digital payments, including Bread®, and Comenity-branded financial services. Co.'s client base of companies and online merchants consists primarily of consumer-based businesses.
When researching a stock like Alliance Data Systems, 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 ADS 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 ADS 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 ADS 200 day moving average ("ADS 200 DMA"), while one of the most popular "shorter look-backs" is the ADS 50 day moving average ("ADS 50 DMA"). A chart showing both of these popular moving averages is shown on this page for Alliance Data Systems. Comparing two moving averages against each other can be a useful visualization tool: by calculating the difference between the ADS 200 DMA and the ADS 50 DMA, we get a moving average convergence divergence indicator ("ADS MACD"). The ADS MACD chart, in conjunction with the chart of the moving averages, basically helps in visualizing how the moving averages are showing convergence (moving closer together), or divergence (moving farther apart). |