Leave it to Apple to reinvent the cell phone. And so they have evidently, at least as far as Wall Street is concerned. Voracious investors bid up AAPL shares by more than $7 yesterday (see chart below) while simultaneously pounding those of a competitor, Research In Motion. Both stocks went crazy as Steve Jobs was introducing the iPod-based phone at MacWorld in San Francisco. The $500 device has no keypad and supposedly requires a little smarts to use. If that’s the case, it could take Microsoft’s geniuses in Redmond a few more months than usual to figure the thing out so that they can produce an inferior copy a year or two from now – one that, say, displays an Excel spread sheet on a two-inch screen.

Despite its spectacular surge, AAPL was not the attention grabber in the chat room. As always, bullion and precious-metal shares drove the discussion, For the record, I’ve revised my forecast for Silver downward slightly, to a bottom-fishable target that you can access , along with a fresh chart, on the Touts page. Concerning Gold, there seems to be more concern than is warranted. I see somewhat lower prices ahead, with a minimum 594.50 target on the February Comex contract. But the fact remains, Gold’s declines in recent months have lacked the power to create menacing impulse legs on the daily chart. The bear’s lack of seriousness was evident some time ago, when the ten-week fall from mid-July’s peak failed to breach several key supports near $565 made earlier in the year. The chart below shows this.  

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London Seminar

A Hidden Pivot seminar in London appears likely, judging from the strong initial response.  If you’re interested in attending a two-day class there, probably sometime in the spring of 2007, please let me know via e-mail, including your contact information. The cost would be $1,500 USD.