Kohl’s Slammed on Earnings; Charts on What to Expect for TJX, Ross Stores

The retail sector has seen strength from online giant Amazon (AMZN) - Get Report , which set an all-time high of $722.45 on Thursday. A theme for quite some time is that Amazon is gaining market share from the mall anchors and from discount retailers around the country.

Mall anchors Dillard's (DDS) - Get Report , Nordstrom (JWN) - Get Report and Macy's  (M) - Get Report set new multiyear lows on Thursday, as Amazon was setting its all-time high.

The share price damage was sever. Dillard's had a year-to-date gain of 2.1% on May 6 and at Thursday's close of $60.64 had a 7.7% year to date decline. The stock traded as low as $56.03 in premarket trading on Thursday in sympathy with the crash of Nordstrom.

On May 6, Nordstrom had a loss of 3.5% year to date. At Thursday's close of $45.23, it is down 9.2%. This mall anchor reported disappointing earnings after the closing bell and traded as low as $36.94 in premarket trading.

On May 6, Macy's had a gain of 7.6% year to date. At Thursday's close of $31.21, it is now down 10.8% year to date.

Discount retailerKohl's (KSS) - Get Report was sent to the woodshed on Thursday after an extremely negative reaction to earnings reported before the opening bell. Kohl's traded as high as $79.60 on April 6. It crashed by 57.4% to a low of $33.88 on Thursday.

TJX (TJX) - Get Report set its all-time high of $78.46 on March 21. But with a negative weekly chart, beating earnings estimates of 70 cents a share on May 17 is a tough investor bet.

Ross Stores (ROST) - Get Report set its all-time high on March 18. Again, with a negative weekly chart, beating earnings estimates of 73 cents a share on May 19 seems difficult.

Here's the weekly chart for Kohl's.

Courtesy of MetaStock Xenith

The weekly chart is negative, with the stock below its key weekly moving average of $42.57. The stock is well below its 200-week simple moving average of $53.74. The weekly momentum reading is projected to decline to 35.16 last week, down from 42.34, set on May 6.

Investors looking to buy Kohl's should consider doing so on weakness to $31.13, which is a key level on technical charts until the end of 2016.

Investors looking to reduce holdings should consider selling strength to $39.60 and $42.04, which are key levels on technical charts until the end of next week and the end of May, respectively.

Here's the weekly chart for Ross Stores.

Courtesy of MetaStock Xenith

The weekly chart is negative, with the stock below its key weekly moving average of $56.51, but above its 200-week simple moving average of $40.64. The weekly momentum reading is projected to decline to 59.72 this week, down from 66.29 on May 6.

Investors looking to buy Ross Stores should do so on weakness to $43.68, which is a key level on technical charts until the end of 2016.

Investors looking to reduce holdings should consider selling strength to $57.51 and $59.73, which are key levels on technical charts until the end of June and the end May, respectively.

Here's the weekly chart for TJX.

Courtesy of MetaStock Xenith

The weekly chart is negative, with the stock below its key weekly moving average of $75.71, but above its 200-week simple moving average of $59.57. The weekly momentum reading is projected to decline to 73.32 this week, down from 80.34 on May 6, declining below the overbought threshold of 80.00.

Investors looking to buy TJX should do so on weakness to $61.98, which is a key level on technical charts until the end of 2016.

Investors looking to reduce holdings should consider selling strength to $76.27 and $76.67, which are key levels on technical charts until the end of June and the end May, respectively.

This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned.