The membership model is a cornerstone of Costco's competitive advantage, driving customer loyalty and repeat business. This framework not only differentiates Costco from traditional retailers but also enhances profitability through membership fees. The model encourages bulk purchasing, leading to increased sales volume and a unique shopping experience. As consumer preferences shift towards value-based shopping, Costco's membership model remains a significant asset for sustained growth.

The price action of Costco (COST) is impacted by broad market risk appetite, sector price trend, company-specific performance and market structure. Trend sentiment measures the current trend of the stock price, and market sentiment reflects what market participants collectively think where the price will move next.There is no clear direction for COST since trend sentiment and market sentiment are at the opposite directions. The positive sentiment force for sector is at 0.2, and the negative at -0.2 on 2025-04-13. The forces of and Valuation Sentiment (-1) will drive down the price. The forces of Stock Price Trend (0), Sector Price Trend (0), Price Level Sentiment (0), Option Sentiment (0), Market Risk Appetite (0), and Sentiment towards Fundamentals (1.3) will drive up the price. The sentiment for Sector Price Trend is calculated based on the price trend of related sector ETF. The sentiment for Option Speculation is calculated from put/call ratio. The Risk Appetite is calculated from Bitcoin price trend. Price Level sentiment is positive when oversold, and negative when overbought. Valuation Sentiment, and Sentimentals towards Fundamentals are extracted from headlines and market commentary. All sentiment scores are normalized on a -10 - +10 scale. The price level reaches 100 at Bollinger upper band, and zero at lower band.

COST
Date	Attention	Price	Price Level	Change	SMA10 Trend	Trend Sentiment	Hourly Trend	Hourly StdDev	Market Sentiment	Action	P	Fund.	News Sentiment
2025-04-13	0%(0%)					0	0%		0.1			1.3	-1
2025-04-12	0%(0%)					0	0%		-0.2			0	-1
2025-04-11	0%(0%)					0	0%		-0.2			0	-1
2025-04-10	0%(0%)					0	0%		-0.3			-0.5	-1
2025-04-09	0%(0%)					0	0%		-0.2			-0.4	-1
2025-04-08	0%(0%)					0	0%		-0.4			-1.2	-1
2025-04-07	0%(0%)					0	0%		-0.4			-1.2	-1
2025-04-04	0%(0%)					0	0%		-0			0.9	-1
2025-04-03	0%(0%)					0	0%		0.2			2.1	-1
2025-04-02	0%(0%)					0	0%		0.2			2.1	-1
Wait action is recommended in three scenarios with either high uncertainty or high risk: 1. The trend sentiment and market sentiment are at the opposite directions. 2. Both trend sentiment and market sentiment are positive, but the price level is elevated. 3. Both trend sentiment and market sentiment are negative, but the price level is depressed. In an uptrend, as an investor, you may want to wait for the pullback to open long position. In a downtrend, the price will likely rebound after huge decline. As an investor, you may want to wait for the rebound to exit long position.
Market sentiment will accelerate the current trend when both trend sentiment and market sentiment are at the same direction. Market sentiment will generate volatility when it's at the opposite direction of the trend sentiment. News sentiment measures the daily emotion of the market. News sentiment may impact the daily price change while market sentiment is a more stable and consistent moving force.