The chart show an unachieved rally target at 391.08 that looks very likely to be achieved within a day or two. Last week’s gap through the midpoint pivot all but clinched the move, and the consolidation just above it sweetens the odds of a profitable short when AAPL gets there. Since we are jumping in the path of a speeding freight train, you should risk no more on options than you could part with painlessly. I’d recommend buying soon-to-expire puts that are selling for under $1.00. If the target is hit today, the July 17 370 puts should fit our needs. ______ UPDATE (Jul 13, 9:58 p.m.): The early-morning spike 2% above such a clear Hidden Pivot target as 391.08 suggests bulls are not yet finished, but they will struggle mightily to make any headway over the next 3-5 days, if not longer. There’s a lot of ruin in an empire, as the saying goes, so don’t count out this hoax quite yet. _______ UPDATE (Jul 14, 9:08 p.m.): Bulls struggled, although not mightily as I’d expected. Rising from the canvas after taking what should have been a knockout blow on Monday, they looked jaunty enough to push toward a 399.78, midpoint resistance that would tie the all-time high at $400 recorded just two days ago. ______ UPDATE (Jul 15, 9:52 p.m.): The stock’s engineered leap on the opening bar came within spitting distance of the 399.78 target, but it turned into a bull trap when AAPL relapsed $11 over the next two hours. This is distributive behavior, although I stop short of suggesting that leveraging the downside will be easy. My own target price for getting short would be around 398.25, possibly using a ‘reverse’ ABC pattern. I’m prepared, however, to see the stock get nowhere near this threshold, which is intuitive and not based on Hidden Pivot levels. ______ UPDATE (Jul 16, 10:12 p.m.): The second bull trap this week fell $1.27 shy of where I’d want to get short. Price action still looks distributive, albeit with wild swings that require more patience than I’ve got to time an entry perfectly for you.
AAPL – Apple Computer (Last:386.23)