Back in May, with AAPL trading around $150, I wrote here that the 168.46 target shown looked like a lock-up. Final progress toward that Hidden Pivot has been a little slower than I’d expected, owing mainly to a price dipsy-doodle that sidetracked the rally for about two months. But the target itself remains viable and seems likely to be achieved within the next 2-4 trading days. If you’ve been long for the ride, plan on adjusting accordingly. If you want to keep your stock and do covered writes against it, I’d suggest protecting your gains by shorting near-the-money call options and using some of the proceeds to buy puts at the 150 strike. If you are flat and looking to get short with the stock topping near the target, buy puts expiring in 7-14 days with AAPL trading 168.25 or higher. If they quickly go in-the-black as we might expect, we’ll roll them to a later date. The 168.46 target is very long-term, deriving from a bull market ‘technical’ low of $55 recorded in mid-2013. It is also sufficiently clear and compelling for us to infer that AAPL is not going to simply blow past it._______ UPDATE (Aug 10, 7:09 p.m.): AAPL fell hard with the broad averages today, but this did little technical damage to the weekly chart. The stock would have to fall a further $15, exceeding 140.06 to the downside, to alter the still-bullish long-term picture. _______ UPDATE (Aug 13, 6:05 p.m.): Friday’s rally tripped a buy signal on the hourly chart, but AAPL will need to get past the 160.95 midpoint Hidden Pivot shown to imply that buyers have the gumption to shoot for the 167.84 target with which the lower number is associated. We should see tradable resistance from that number if it’s reached, but my focus will still be on the 168.46 target of a larger pattern noted (and pictured in the corresponding chart) above.
