AAPL has been looking so bad lately that I was prompted to take a closer look at its intraday charts. They reveal a crucial fact that I had overlooked — i.e., that the January 18 all-time high at 180.10 from which the stock has fallen so hard was an important target that had taken months to reach. It would surely explain the severity of this correction. It would also have invalidated the ‘mechanical’ buy at the green line of a smaller pattern we were considering. I did not signal the trade officially; however, if you bought at 171.96, I’d suggest exiting now at around 171.10. No one mentioned the trade or AAPL in the chat room, so I’m assuming no subscriber holds a position. Please let me know in the chat room if this is incorrect. For now, we’ll simply watch as AAPL falls — quite possibly to below C=165.28. Those of you who have recently taken the Hidden Pivot Course will recognize the pattern that produced the 179.55 rally target, and which worked so precisely, as a favorite of mine. It is characterized by a quickly formed ABC ‘launching  pad,’ followed by a lengthy and painful slog from C to D.  We like this pattern simply because we are so well enabled by the Hidden Pivot Method to see the target, even as other traders are thrown off its scent by the egregious asymmetry of the two rally legs. ______ UPDATE (Jan 30, 9:26 p.m.): The stock continues to look like hell and has now fallen below the 165.28 threshold flagged above. Presumably, AAPL’s prolonged bout of weakness is for reasons we will be hearing about when when the company reports earnings after Thursday’s close. So far, the negative buzz has focused chiefly on iPhoneX problems, but there’s got to more to it than that. Perhaps the best that investors can hope for is a washout low on Thursday that clears the way for a resurgence to $180 and above. ______ UPDATE (Feb 1, 5:41 p.m.):  The usual lunatics have pushed AAPL higher on discouraging earnings news released after the close. This is simple perversity at work, but it has sandbagged shorts into covering the stock at prices $7 higher (so far) than the regular session close. We’ll give the stock wide berth until the histrionics subside.