General Electric shares fall for a second session in a row on Wednesday, conglomerate to reduce its European workforce by 4 500

General Electric Company (GE) was reported to be considering a cut in its workforce across Europe. According to French newspaper Les Echos, 4 500 jobs are to be cut in Switzerland, Germany and the UK. The cuts are associated with businesses, which General Electric acquired from France’s Alstom two years ago.

General Electric shares closed lower for a second consecutive trading session on Wednesday. The stock went down 0.56% ($0.10) to $17.66, after touching an intraday low at $17.60, or a price level not seen since November 15th ($17.50).

In the week ended on December 3rd the shares of the industrial conglomerate lost 1.70% of their market value compared to a week ago, which marked a third consecutive period of decrease.

The stock has extended its loss to 3.44% so far during the current month, following a 9.28% slump in November. The latter has been a ninth consecutive month of losses.

For the entire past year, General Electric shares gained 1.44%. However, the stock has retreated 44.11% so far in 2017.

The industrial conglomerate did not acknowledge the numbers cited above. However, it stated that it was “reviewing its operations to ensure the business is best positioned to respond to our market realities and for long-term success.”

According to William Blair analyst Nicholas Heymann, the reported lay-offs are part of a plan by GE Power aimed at integration of General Electrics energy connections and power businesses. This way $1 billion in costs are expected to be saved in 2018 and additional $500 million in 2019.

As a result of weak performance of its power division, in November, the conglomerate revised down its earnings forecast and reduced dividend by 50%.

General Electric has already cut its global headcount by about 25% or 1 500 jobs.

According to CNN Money, the 15 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding General Electric’s stock price, have a median target of $22.00, with a high estimate of $35.00 and a low estimate of $15.00. The median estimate is a 24.58% surge compared to the closing price of $17.66 on December 6th.

The same media also reported that 8 out of 19 surveyed investment analysts had rated General Electric’s stock as “Buy”, while other 8 – as “Hold”. On the other hand, 3 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 Electric stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $17.68
R2 – $17.70
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $17.73
R4 (Long Breakout) – $17.79
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $17.87
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $17.90

S1 – $17.64
S2 – $17.62
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $17.59
S4 (Short Breakout) – $17.53
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $17.45
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $17.42

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

Central Pivot Point – $18.11
R1 – $18.36
R2 – $18.84
R3 – $19.09
R4 – $19.34

S1 – $17.63
S2 – $17.38
S3 – $16.90
S4 – $16.42