There are a dozen good reasons why we should be sounding ‘taps’ for the bull market. But not quite yet, perhaps, with AAPL setting up for what could prove to be a strong last-gasp rally. Why does this seem likely? For one, Friday’s 7% plunge was a transparent fraud, engineered by portfolio managers who are eager as always to accumulate more Apple shares at bargain prices. How so? The company reported the usual record earnings on record sales, but its handlers, with the help of their stooges in the press, got the herd to focus on side-issues that should have been of little concern. For one, the company will no longer report hardware sales separately. This change in accounting protocols was described by the news media as an obfuscation, but it merely reflects a shift in emphasis toward the company’s growing stream of revenues from services. For two, the downbeat forecast for the holiday season turns out to have been not so much downbeat as simply slightly less-than-glowing. It was instant stampede nevertheless — fomented by the usual, useful idiots.

Mau-Mauing the Hayseeds

So that was the ‘bad’ news, and the smart guys who shamelessly work this stock 24/7 leveraged it to scare widows, pensioners and hayseeds out of their shares.  All of this is not to say AAPL is about to rocket to new record highs. Considering the headwinds the stock market faces from a strengthening dollar, higher interest rates and a collapsing housing sector, it will be increasingly difficult for the Masters of the Universe to sustain the illusion that all is well with the U.S. economy.  But it is not as though they will have to hoist the broad averages higher all by themselves — only AAPL, the world’s most valuable company. AMZN will mechanically follow suit, and that’s all the leadership DaBoyz will require to keep their winning streak alive. Their unmistakable goal will be to distribute as much stock as possible ahead of a real McCoy collapse in stocks that looms in 2019. We should not underestimate their ability to accomplish this at significantly higher prices — perhaps even at new-record highs for a handful of tech stocks. October’s headlined plunge will have scared almost no one, and that’s why the stock market may need to ascend yet one more time to execute a proper death dive.

More immediately, from a technical standpoint last week’s selling in AAPL has farther to go. But not very. Look for a bottom at or very near the 203.08 ‘Hidden Pivot’ target shown in the chart. We’ll try to leverage the expected bounce with call options purchased in timely fashion. Subscribers should stay tuned to the chat room in the meantime for guidance in real time. If you don’t subscribe but want to join in the fun, click here for a free two-week trial to Rick’s Picks that will give you instant access to all features and services, including a 24/7 chat room where great traders from around the world share ideas that can help you profit. _______ UPDATE (Nov 5, 11:03 a.m.): We bought into an avalanche that demolished the 203.08 downside support. Our 210 calls purchased for 1.40 have been halved and should now be tied to a 0.56 stop-loss. AAPL has rallied off a bombed-out low, but another leg down to at least 196.12 appears likely.  _______ UPDATE (5:22 p.m.): The stop-loss triggered, generating a theoretical loss of $336.  Subscribers who bought stock instead of the calls, or possibly in addition to them, would have experienced a $15 loss per round lot if the purchase was tied to the 202.95 stop-loss advised in the chat room at the time. The failure of so clear a Hidden Pivot as 203.08 to evince support obviously took me by surprise, and it portends even lower prices just ahead. I’m not wild about the 196.12 target shown in this chart, but it’ll have to do, since it’s all I have to offer at the moment. If any lower, use 195.31, the target given in my Facebook presentation from last Friday._______ UPDATE (Nov 6, 7:27 p.m.): The charmless rally of the last two days has made my 195.31 downside target seem like an outlier for the moment. The countertrend projects to 206.79, a gnarly Hidden Pivot, but we’ll be better able to judge the sincerity of buyers once we’ve seen them interact with it.