Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Copper has been running in place for nearly a year but is now on the verge of a bullish breakout that promises to keep prices buoyant, at least, in the months ahead. Notice in the chart how yesterday's rally came within 0.0005 points of an external peak recorded in May.  Although a 'b-c' pullback from here would diminish the imputed bullishness of any rally exceeding that peak, it would not negate the prospect of a bull market in its infancy.  On the other hand, a failure to surpass the peak -- and soon -- could consign the futures to indefinite meandering in the wilderness. Click here for information about the upcoming Hidden Pivot Webinar and a $50 coupon — or here for a free trial subscription.

You’ve got to hand it to the arse bandits who make their living manipulating Apple shares each and every day. This week, they demonstrated yet again that they reign supreme in the hierarchy of quasi-criminals who populate Wall Street.  For months, they’ve been goosing the stock repeatedly with short-squeeze rallies fueled by The Coming of iPhone5.  Such shenanigans are to be expected in AAPL in particular because institutional traders, like that famed bank robber of yore, Willie Sutton, have gone where the money is, gaming the shares of the world’s largest company.  With iPhone5’s high-profile introduction slated for this morning, how have Apple shares behaved?  In a word, diabolically. On Monday, the rubes who bought the opening with market orders got crushed in a classic bull trap.  The stock gapped up to $683 in the first moments of the session, but it was steeply downhill from there.  By day’s end, Apple had fallen to $662, a 3% plunge; then, still lower on Tuesday, to a prospective bear-trap low of $656. With the stock feinting toward hell, we should keep in mind not only that Apple Inc. is expected to sell as many as 53 million iPhones in the fourth quarter, and perhaps 266 million more in 2013, but that each and every device is priced to fully exploit Apple’s unique cachet  among younger buyers in particular.  For Apple, it’s like being able to sell Manolo Blahnik shoes or Vuitton handbags at ridiculous prices -- but to buyers of many ages and both sexes, not just women.  As a result, Apple’s margins are by far the best in the business, iPhone5 is destined to be a monster hit, and the stock itself has become all but impervious to pessimism. So what was it doing yesterday trading for $656, down $27 in