Shares of Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA) have been on a recent steady downtrend, causing some worry for shareholders.

Individuals may have the tendency to make irrational investing decisions based on certain biases rather than focusing on market fundamentals. They might purchase a certain stock when the price is surging higher or when the entire stock market is in an upswing. This behavior is typically driven by the fear of missing out on possible profits that they think that everybody else is making. When the market continues to rise, they may believe that they need to get in quick before missing out completely. On the other side, investors may be too quick to sell a certain stock when it is been moving to the downside. They may be scared of further losses and the fear of uncertainty may creep in and cause unnecessary selling.

It is important to consider the moving averages of a downtrending security.  We see here that Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA) is -8.99% away from the 20-Day Simple Moving Average.  Their 50-Day Simple Moving Average is a difference of -4.27% from current levels.  Further back, their 200-Day Simple Moving Average is -23.80% difference from today’s price.  Currently, the stock is -24.63% from its 50-Day High and 12.86% from the 50-day low. 

RSI and Recommendations

Apache Corporation’s RSI is 45.32.  Based on the stock’s volatility for the week, which is a statistical measure of the dispersion of returns for a given stock and represents average daily high/low percentage range of 4.35% and month of 4.84%.  Wall Street analysts have a consensus 2.90 recommendation on the stock.  

Dedicated investors are usually on the lookout for promising stocks that have been overlooked by the investment community. They may be searching for companies that have slipped under the radar and are primed for a move higher. Some investors may do the research and locate these stocks that are infrequently in the financial news headlines and are relatively unknown by the average investor. These stocks may be smaller cap, trading on a foreign exchange, or stocks that used to be prominent that have not been part of the conversation recently. Finding these stocks may take some extra research and effort. Investors who are able to do enough digging may be able to find some great names to help support the stock portfolio.

Apache Corporation (NYSE:APA)’s performance this year to date is -16.42%.  The stock has performed 2.52% over the last seven days, -9.86% over the last thirty, and -13.07% over the last three months.  Over the last six months, Apache Corporation’s stock has been -38.97% and -50.84% for the year.