Fastenal Co. is engaged in the wholesale distribution of industrial and construction supplies. Co. is a distributor of threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, studs, and related washers, as well as miscellaneous supplies and hardware, such as pins, machinery keys, concrete anchors, metal framing systems, wire rope, struts, rivets, and related accessories. Its business tools include Fastenal Managed Inventory (FMI), Bin stock (FASTStock and FASTBin) and Industrial vending (FASTVend). It also invests in digital solutions that aim to deliver value for its customers, leverage local inventory for same-day solutions, and provide service.
When researching a stock like Fastenal, 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 FAST 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 FAST 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 FAST 200 day moving average ("FAST 200 DMA"), while one of the most popular "shorter look-backs" is the FAST 50 day moving average ("FAST 50 DMA"). A chart showing both of these popular moving averages is shown on this page for Fastenal. Comparing two moving averages against each other can be a useful visualization tool: by calculating the difference between the FAST 200 DMA and the FAST 50 DMA, we get a moving average convergence divergence indicator ("FAST MACD"). The FAST 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). |
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Video: Technical Analysis