Linde is the largest industrial gas supplier in the world, with operations in over 100 countries. The firm's main products are atmospheric gases (including oxygen, nitrogen, and argon) and process gases (including hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and helium), as well as equipment used in industrial gas production. Linde serves a wide variety of end markets, including chemicals, manufacturing, healthcare, and steelmaking. Linde generated approximately $33 billion in revenue in 2024.

On the upside, there is little chart resistance for the S&P 500 (SPX) until 5,500. That is also a 50% Fibonacci retracement of the correction and the location of the 21-day exponential average. Trendline support, drawn off the intraday peaks on February 19 and March 26, comes in near 5,550 when projecting out a week. There is a price gap at 5,570, a 61.8% retracement of the decline at 5,646, and the next layer of overhead supply in the 5,780 region. On the downside, initial chart support for SPX lies between 5,250 and the corrective intraday low of 4,835. On the weekly chart, the 2021 bull-market high is near 4,820, and that is also the location of a 50% retracement of the 2022 to 2025 bull market. The important and rising 200-week average comes in at 4,680 and has marked many correction and bear-market bottoms. Long-term trendline support, drawn off the lows in 2011, 2018, and 2022, lies at 4,650 when projecting out a month. There is also chart support at 4,600 and a 61.8% giveback of the recent bull market is near 4,500. One of our long-term SPX buy signals incorporates the weekly Bollinger Bands (BB). When the SPX touches or undercuts the lower BB and then recaptures the band, it is an initial buy signal. For those that seek greater confidence, a break above the middle band (20-week average) has a higher probability of success. The SPX is sitting just above the lower band at 5,327. The middle band is at 5,860. This worked in early 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018, October 2022, and October 2023. It failed three times in 2008, in 2015, and three times in 2022. (Mark Arbeter, CMT)

Linde plc is a leading global industrial gas and engineering services company formed from the October 2018 merger of Linde AG and Praxair Inc. The company has approximately 65,000 employees and has operations in more than 80 countries.

With the carnage that took place in equity markets last week, we expected to see a pronounced reaction from corporate insiders. But the weekly insider-transaction data from Vickers Stock Research shows no major response. Possible explanations for that include the imminent start of earnings season (and the associated trading restrictions that are now in place for many insiders) and the fact that the really bad days last week were at the very end of the week, leaving less time for insider trades to take place and be included in Vickers' data for the week. But even on the two worst days (Thursday and Friday), there was no rush to sell by insiders -- though no rush to buy either. Also in play is the possibility that insiders, like many investors, took to the slide-lines as the drop was so sudden and so steep that a 'no choice but to wait it out' posture was all that made sense. A quick look at Vickers' major one-week sell/buy ratios shows slightly improving sentiment on the NYSE and slightly worsening sentiment on the Nasdaq. But end of day, the broader eight-week ratios continue to improve for the NYSE, the Nasdaq, and for Vickers' Total Eight-Week Sell/Buy Ratio (all exchanges). That eight-week barometer is now at 3.48 on a scale where the neutral range runs from 2.00 to 6.00 and the bullish range kicks in under 2.00. The current reading compares favorably to 3.74 last week and a recent high of 6.02 in late February. On a sector basis, insider buying exceeded selling in Energy last week, with shares valued at $2.4 million bought versus $19,521 sold. Buying was also notable in Consumer Discretionary, as shares valued at $11 million were bought, trailing the level of selling activity by a factor of just 1.3-times, as well as in Financial, as shares valued at $2.1 were bought versus $3.0 million sold. On the flip side, selling was the greatest in Information Technology over the last week, with shares valued at $19 million sold versus $8 million bought; in Healthcare, with $15 million sold versus $5 million bought; and in Industrials, with $6.4 million sold versus $1.3 million bought. This week, analysts at Vickers highlighted insider transactions of interest at Petco Health and Wellness Co. Inc. (NGS: WOOF) and Signet Jewelers Ltd. (NYSE: SIG).