The Earnings Setup That's Hiding Behind Today's Fed Circus

The Earnings Setup That’s Hiding Behind Today’s Fed Circus

By Nathan Bear

January 28, 2026

While most traders will be focused on Jerome Powell’s 2 p.m. press conference, Chevron (CVX) is quietly building one of the cleanest technical setups I’ve seen all month.

CVX is sitting at $168… and the chart is telling a story that has nothing to do with interest rates and everything to do with mathematical momentum.

The Multi-Timeframe Squeeze Stack

We’ve got a beautiful setup. Squeezes are firing on every timeframe from the 195-minute all the way down to the 10-minute chart…

195-minute squeeze: Momentum turning green, breaking through compression
130-minute squeeze: Already triggered and building steam
65-minute squeeze: Coiled tight with Bollinger Bands inside Keltner Channels
10-minute squeeze: Fresh trigger setting up intraday momentum

For those unfamiliar with squeeze signals, they measure when volatility contracts while momentum builds underneath. When you get this kind of multi-timeframe alignment, it’s like having four different engines all firing at once.

The Daily and Weekly Structure That Seals It

While the shorter timeframes are setting up the timing, the daily chart is giving us the direction…

Stacked EMAs: The 8, 13, 21, and 34 exponential moving averages are perfectly stacked bullish. This is institutional money flow at work – when EMAs stack like this on an energy name, smart money is positioned.

Point of Control: We’re trading right above the volume-weighted level where institutions have been accumulating around $165. That’s your technical floor.

Trend Momentum: Clean momentum shift after weeks of sideways action in the $160 to $170 range.

The Earnings Timing Dilemma

Here’s where it gets interesting. CVX reports earnings January 30 – just two days away. That’s both the opportunity and the risk.

The bullish case: Energy names have been setting up for earnings beats, and this technical stack suggests smart money is already positioned for good news.

The reality check: Holding through earnings is gambling, not trading. But that doesn’t kill the setup – it just changes the timeline.

Why This Beats the Fed Guessing Game

Everyone’s going to be glued to Powell’s face at 2 p.m., trying to decode Fed speak. Meanwhile, CVX has something better than central bank tea leave…

Multiple timeframe squeeze alignment
Stacked daily EMAs showing institutional flow
Energy sector momentum building
Clear technical levels for risk management

This checks every box in my playbook, and it doesn’t need Jerome’s permission to move.

Your Action Plan

The setup is clean, but the earnings timing creates two distinct plays…

Pre-Earnings Momentum Play: January 30 $170 calls for the run into earnings. Take profits before close January 29. Risk: $165 break kills the pattern.

Post-Earnings Technical Play: Wait for earnings volatility to settle, then play the technical breakout with February calls if the pattern holds.

I prefer the first option. When you get this kind of multi-timeframe squeeze alignment, the momentum usually shows up before the fundamental catalyst, not after.

Want to see more setups like this?

I’m going live with trading legend Jon Najarian TODAY at 2 p.m. ET for our “Unusually Bullish Charts” masterclass. We’re breaking down six under-the-radar technical setups that are building momentum while everyone else is distracted by the Fed circus.

Jon’s made over $1 billion selling companies to Wall Street giants. I turned $37K into $2.7M in four years from my home office. Two completely different approaches to the same goal.

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