AAPL stalled almost to-the-penny at 170.18, the D target of the reverse pattern shown. We might have attempted to get short there if this had occurred in the middle of the day. However, it was not such an appealing play ahead of the weekend, especially with the stock closing on the high tick of the session. The rally to the target in retrospect was all but ordained, given the gap-up opening bar through the midpoint Hidden Pivot at 162.20. The spike also exceeded an external peak from a week ago, generating the kind of impulse leg that almost invariably portends a continuation of the trend. Elsewhere on the page, I’ve featured a chart that shows the stock rallying to the neckline of a bearish head-and-shoulders pattern. Which picture will prevail? The questions seems likely to be settled this week, since just sitting there is not an option. _______ UPDATE (Jan 31, 8:12 p.m. EST): DaBoyz showed the trading world’s hard-core doubters of the bull’s invincibility how it’s done, effortlessly wafting a $3 trillion stock more than 2% higher on a volume-less Monday morning opening. Just a few more points and their perennially resurgent Phoenix will have the magnetic help of the old record-high at 182 to add imagination’s pull to short-covering’s push. ______ UPDATE (Feb 2, 8:47 p.m.): DaBoyz are about to let AAPL fall, since the carnage in Facebook and Paypal has made it unnecessary and uneconomical to support King Kong when lower ‘reload’ prices are guaranteed.