AAPL’s canny sponsors began the day coaxing a manic leap from panicky bears. The short-covering gap tripped a theoretical buy signal at 217.19 that is predicated on a further rally to at least 228.39, the midpoint Hidden Pivot of the pattern shown.. Once decisively above it the stock would be an odds on bet to reach the ‘D’ target at 250.49.  We’ll ignore the trading signal for the time being, but not the stock’s feistiness, since AAPL is, as we know, is the most valuable company in the world, owned by nearly every portfolio manager on the planet. That is why it is not going to crash simply because the stock market has developed a case of October sniffles. We’ll follow this dirigible closely, since, all by itself, it has the power to hold the U.S. stock market aloft for as long as the institutional chimps continue to buy-and-hold it, and Apple continues to buy back its own shares._______ UPDATE (Nov 1, 10:14 p.m. ET): The stock is getting whomped in after-ours trading Thursday following a punk earnings forecast for the holiday season. AAPL has fallen 7% so far and could go even lower if it achieves the 203.88 target shown.