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The S&P/TSX Composite jumped 2.3 per cent for the trading week ending with Thursday's close, but it remains 4.7 per cent lower for the year.

In terms of technical, Relative Strength Index (RSI) puts the benchmark as a whole at the low end of the neutral range with a reading of 37 that's much closer to the oversold, buy signal of 30 than the overbought RSI sell signal of 70.

There are 21 oversold, technically attractive benchmark constituents by RSI this week, led by Element Fleet Management Corp. IGM Financial Inc is the second most oversold TSX company followed by Transalta Renewables Inc., Nutrien Ltd, Crew Energy Inc. and Emera Inc.

I chose Manulife Financial for the focus chart this week because of its prominence in the Canadian market. The stock is not officially oversold with an RSI of 31 at present, but spent much of the early part of February with readings well below the RSI buy signal of 30.

Manulife's price has responded well to buy signal in the past three years although the rallies were not huge in some cases. An Aug. 24, 2015 buy signal forecast a 9.4-per-cent rally to Nov. 3 of the same year, although a major slide followed immediately afterwards.

Another buy signal in February 2016 turned out to be a profitable entry point for investors as it marked the three-year low for the stock price. A June 2016 RSI buy signal offered another lucrative opportunity as Manulife rose 55 per cent by Jan. 26, 2016. A Sept. 5, 2017 buy signal was also followed by a rally, but it was smaller in size and the price is now revisiting the lows of that period.

Manulife's price has also been sensitive to its 200-day moving average trend line, both as resistance – the period between October and December 2015 is a good example – and support (September 2017).

RSI buy signals have been effective as finding buying opportunities for Manulife but there has been a tendency for the stock to roll over and re-test previous lows.

Fundamental research will be important as always, as potentially uncovering the profit outlook for Manulife that will determine whether the stock can sustain a technical recovery.

There are only seven overbought, technically vulnerable stocks according to RSI this week. CanREIT tops the list, followed by Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd., Stars Group Inc., Pure Industrial REIT, Colliers International Group, First Quantum Minerals Ltd., and CGI Group Inc.

RSIPrice200DMAReturn 1W %Return YTD %PE Ratio TTMPE Ratio Fwd
EFN-TELEMENT FLEET MANAGEMENT COR9.5177924.659.34785-14.6789-51.05263#N/A N/A6.175298805
IGM-TIGM FINANCIAL INC15.5644839.1142.2462-5.187877-11.4156312.9363626311.86229906
RNW-TTRANSALTA RENEWABLES INC20.0574411.6114.1273-2.682313-12.7431230.7237945510.99431818
NTR-TNUTRIEN LTD20.3549155.68#N/A N/A-2.040816#N/A N/A#N/A N/A20.28986207
CR-TCREW ENERGY INC20.436781.783.73275-6.315791-43.49207#N/A N/A#N/A N/A
EMA-TEMERA INC21.0683940.3647.277-5.876864-13.0243240.8406542714.58092486
KDX-TKLONDEX MINES LTD25.367321.963.80725-7.547168-39.8773#N/A N/A18.629407
ALA-TALTAGAS LTD26.7282926.128.96350.5005791-8.22934426.6995931431.82926829
EXE-TEXTENDICARE INC26.784088.289.463775-1.779363-9.08974121.51163326#N/A N/A
IMO-TIMPERIAL OIL LTD27.3363334.1938.41555-2.62034-12.8473197.8089496417.63280041
IFC-TINTACT FINANCIAL CORP27.5090397.63100.3324-0.3267001-7.01019415.8569874914.54558999
SJR.B-TSHAW COMMUNICATIONS INC-B27.7552625.6528.225750.2300417-9.92490118.9846011#N/A N/A
FRU-TFREEHOLD ROYALTIES LTD27.9074612.714.048750.3159543-9.27524134.8883841297.69230769
GWO-TGREAT-WEST LIFECO INC28.1149933.8435.0156-0.02954165-3.58974313.1141036111.09508197
CVE-TCENOVUS ENERGY INC28.400999.3611.47855-4.974623-18.46698.35156489823.45864662
SW-TSIERRA WIRELESS INC28.7245220.3230.07025-11.95841-20.9338536.0237603717.69198708
ECI-TENERCARE INC28.7767918.4320.1114-0.8045536-9.37593930.8825579824.25
RRX-TRAGING RIVER EXPLORATION INC28.795766.397.62140.6299213-20.12524.9194694218.41498559
NWC-TNORTH WEST CO INC/THE29.0924927.4130.89060.07301935-8.84602520.1798739115.11025358
ENF-TENBRIDGE INCOME FUND HOLDING29.5869127.0730.88390.6319692-8.58042412.7089200411.31216047
PSK-TPRAIRIESKY ROYALTY LTD29.6890729.0730.76390.8674532-9.14374770.8336777899.21501706
NAMERSIPrice200DMAReturn 1W %Return YTD %PE Ratio TTMPE Ratio Fwd
REF.UN-TCAN REAL ESTATE INVEST TRUST78.1306750.4946.319818.105269.43293713.29826856#N/A N/A
KML-TKINDER MORGAN CANADA LTD73.9069619.12#N/A N/A10.3926113.49172#N/A N/A28.28402367
TSGI-TSTARS GROUP INC/THE73.3026333.3525.887054.4799514.0170920.4619340411.26819521
AAR.UN-TPURE INDUSTRIAL REAL ESTATE73.18328.066.84870.248761419.4382321.32918504#N/A N/A
CIGI-TCOLLIERS INTERNATIONAL GROUP72.4696583.870.95515.2840910.4520934.2834399519.56321186
FM-TFIRST QUANTUM MINERALS LTD71.018721.3914.5502525.0146121.46507#N/A N/A18.01460288
GIB.A-TCGI GROUP INC - CLASS A70.4440673.6366.62546.524887.80380218.9885244317.33286252

Source: Bloomberg/Scott Barlow