Buyers blew past a ‘midpoint Hidden Pivot’ near 179 Tuesday, leaving no doubt about their ability to push the stock to at least 190.33 in the days ahead (or 192.99 if any higher). It seems like only yesterday that AAPL was mucking around as analysts wrung their hands over sluggish iPhone sales in Asia. These days, however, a CEO need only say the company plans to do better and the shares rocket 20% in a couple of weeks, propelled by short-covering, hubris and some cheerleading from the usual places. We’re not sure whether the Cupertino giant has regained its spot as the most valuable publicly traded company in the world, but the steep pitch of the rally is most surely having its effect on the broad averages and the FAANGs in particular. They seem not only inured to bad news, but are rising exuberantly on earnings expectations that would have seemed far too optimistic just a few weeks ago. It is all hype, of course, but there’s no gain in fighting the tape. Traders please note that a pullback to 173.90 from current levels, however unlikely, would trigger a ‘mechanical’ buy signal.