The Bottom Line

International Business Machines and Apple have had a great year, Google has outperformed the market and Microsoft has been the laggard.

These stocks each present unique opportunities going forward, as the chart of each company sets up very differently.

There is potential upside in these stocks if the price can push through resistance or create an upside chart pattern breakout, but the support levels must also be watched.

There are warning signals present in some of these stocks and a breach of support means more selling could occur. IBM is setting up well, and Google has potential if it can break through resistance.

Apple is more neutral, but it looks good if it can clear resistance, and the long-term direction of Microsoft will likely be largely swayed by the triangle breakout direction. (For more, see Analyzing Chart Patterns.)

Charts courtesy of http://lists5.investopedia.com/t/798847/29447800/1987/17/" stockcharts.com

At the time of writing, Cory Mitchell did not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this article.