Apple Computer

If AAPL can hurdle the midpoint resistance at 173.97 (see inset), particularly if it does so decisively, it's going to be a romp to the 178.32 target. That would put the stock within easy distance of the 180.10 all-time high recorded a month ago. After hitting that mark the stock went into a hellacious, $30 dive. However, the speed with which that loss has been recouped strongly implies that the bull market is alive and well. AAPL's performance has enormous significance for the stock market as a whole, since, by capitalization, it is the most valuable stock in the world. We'll stay focused in the meantime on the 173.97 Hidden Pivot, since it is such an important number. _______ UPDATE (Feb 18, 5:05 p.m. EST): Buyers popped the stock above 173.97, setting up a possible 'mechanical' buying opportunity on a pullback to the green line (171.80), stop 169.62. I'd suggest 200 shares if you are just getting your feet wet with this type of trade. _______ UPDATE (Feb 20, 7:14 a.m.): I've corrected the chart with a new point 'C' that effectively lowers the bid to 171.50, stop 169.19. If you bought as initially directed, that would raise your entry risk by 30 cents per share.  Please report any fills in the chat room so that I can adjust my guidance accordingly. _______ UPDATE (10:20 a.m.): No fills reported, but I would urge anyone interested in 'mechanical' trades, or skeptical about how well and easily they work, compare the actual chart (15-min) with my trade recommendation.  The stock bottomed at 171.52, implying the 'mechanical' bid I'd advised would have missed getting you aboard by two cents. Even so, the pattern and rationale for the trade are picture-perfect. At the moment, the theoretical profit on a four-lot position would be slightly

AAPL, the world's most valuable publicly traded company, is taking the stealth route higher, providing quiet leadership for the entire stock market. Why "stealth"? Although the point 'B' high in the chart shown appeared to have made a double top with the 163.72 peak recorded on February 6, the latter peak actually exceeded the former by 17 cents. That created a bullish impulse leg on the 15-minute chart, refreshing its energy and clearing a path to at least 166.77. If the rally gets by that Hidden Pivot resistance easily it would strongly imply that the bull is resurgent -- and not just in AAPL.  Subscribers looking to get aboard belatedly can attempt it with a 'mechanical' bid at the green line (162.93), stop 161.64. If the stock doesn't pull back, you may need to substitute a 'camouflage' entry trigger. Stay tuned to chat-room discussion for guidance on this, since there are usually a few Pivoteers around who will know exactly how it's done. _______ UPDATE (Feb 14, 6:41 p.m.): The stock rebounded so robustly this morning that it should be considered bound for the 194.78 target shown. This Hidden Pivot is an oldie, but it is looking more and more like a goody. _______ UPDATE (Feb 15, 9:36 a.m.): The 162.93 'mechanical'  bid I'd advised above caught the low of yesterday's dive on the opening bar within a nickel. The stock so far has rallied $7. If you did the trade according to my instructions, please let me know in the chat room so that I can determine whether to establish a tracking position.

Bulls got sandbagged last week, paying as much as $174 on Thursday for shares that would trade $15 lower 12 hours later. They're not going to forget how they were sucker-punched either, so look for a tough slog if and when AAPL rallies back into the danger zone between around 165 and 174.  For now, though, we should expect at least some sort of bounce from the 159.53 target shown. This Hidden Pivot support is  sufficiently clear and compelling that no bounce would be akin to the Phil the groundhog seeing his shadow: yet more weeks of winter. _______ UPDATE (Feb 5, 8:37 p.m.): Assuming the stock market doesn't get buried for a third consecutive day, I'll be looking for AAPL to turn from a Hidden Pivot support at 153.78. On the 15-minute chart, A=168.10 on 2/1.  I have NOT used overnight bars to calculate this target. [Late-breaking note: If I did, 156.43, which as of 6:10 a.m. has been slightly exceeded, would look appealing as a possible bottoming spot.]  _______ UPDATE (Feb 8, 6:08 p.m.) AAPL looks headed down to at least 149.10, a Hidden Pivot support that can be bottom-fished with as tight a stop-loss as you can abide. You can widen it if you've made money on the way down. _______ UPDATE (Feb 11, 6:11 p.m.): Buyers turned AAPL higher from a 150.24 low that was well above the 149.10 target flagged in my last update. This is mildly bullish, but the stock would need to push above 161.00, the penultimate of two recent peaks recorded on the way down, to turn the hourly chart bullish. Here's the chart. _______ UPDATE (Feb 12, 6:36 p.m.): With a rally to 163,89, AAPL has done more than we'd asked of it. To be certain, though, let's ask buyers to

AAPL has been looking so bad lately that I was prompted to take a closer look at its intraday charts. They reveal a crucial fact that I had overlooked -- i.e., that the January 18 all-time high at 180.10 from which the stock has fallen so hard was an important target that had taken months to reach. It would surely explain the severity of this correction. It would also have invalidated the 'mechanical' buy at the green line of a smaller pattern we were considering. I did not signal the trade officially; however, if you bought at 171.96, I'd suggest exiting now at around 171.10. No one mentioned the trade or AAPL in the chat room, so I'm assuming no subscriber holds a position. Please let me know in the chat room if this is incorrect. For now, we'll simply watch as AAPL falls -- quite possibly to below C=165.28. Those of you who have recently taken the Hidden Pivot Course will recognize the pattern that produced the 179.55 rally target, and which worked so precisely, as a favorite of mine. It is characterized by a quickly formed ABC 'launching  pad,' followed by a lengthy and painful slog from C to D.  We like this pattern simply because we are so well enabled by the Hidden Pivot Method to see the target, even as other traders are thrown off its scent by the egregious asymmetry of the two rally legs. ______ UPDATE (Jan 30, 9:26 p.m.): The stock continues to look like hell and has now fallen below the 165.28 threshold flagged above. Presumably, AAPL's prolonged bout of weakness is for reasons we will be hearing about when when the company reports earnings after Thursday's close. So far, the negative buzz has focused chiefly on iPhoneX problems, but there's got

I've rejiggered my rally target a couple of times, mainly because the stock's ascent has been so slow and boring. The targets given here previously at 184.10 and 194.77 are still viable, but let's use the one shown, at 187.39, since it looks reliable and potentially easy to trade. Based on this pattern, AAPL tripped a 'mechanical' buy last week at 176.93, stop 173.44. Ordinarily I'd say you can bid there for 'sloppy seconds,' but this would hold special risks on a Monday. Instead, I'll suggest waiting for a better opportunity and following along if you want to be up-to-speed if and when it happens. _______ UPDATE (Jan 23, 5:23 p.m.): Sloppy seconds are staring us in the face now that AAPL has relapsed to the red line.  Let's stick to paper-trading this one unless we get the opportunity to buy on a further pullback to the green line (171.96) -- i.e., the 'ideal' mechanical set-up.

Apple shares have held their own (see inset) against a spate of negative press, including most recently mounting concerns that iPhones, addictive as crack cocaine, are harming our children. Would Apple become less profitable if its social consciousness extended to the well-being of kids who are spending half their lives texting, browsing and streaming?  The inescapable fact is that such a change would dampen profits for the entire business world, since so much of it is tied to digital devices, social media and the virtual world of the Internet.  Television stoked similar fears about addiction in the 1960s (and thereafter), but those fears never seemed to impinge on the medium or its profitability. The Internet did, however -- ironically because it has proven far more addictive than the TV medium itself, commanding an even greater share of viewers' time than TV ever did, even in its heyday. As for the stock, from a technical standpoint AAPL still looks to be consolidating for a shot at a 184.10 target we've held in mind for months. The fact that the stock has maintained altitude and will undoubtedly continue to do so until the negative press blows out to sea suggests that its institutional sponsors are blithely unconcerned about the effects of social pressures on Apple, Inc. A downturn in iPhone sales is all they care about -- and even then, it has always been assumed that such weakness would at worst prove temporary.  It is only recession that DaBoyz should fear, since it would take a heavy toll on sales of Apple's ridiculously overpriced hardware, most particularly iPhone models snapped up by Apple-cult buyers for $1000 or more.

We've held a 194.77 rally target in mind for quite a while, but let me offer an alternative target at 184.10 based on the pattern shown. This Hidden Pivot resistance does not invalidate the higher one, but I am proffering it simply because it looks like it is almost certain to be achieved. This is mostly because of the way buyers impaled the red-line midpoint pivot at 163.16 in late October.  A pullback to that number would be a back-up-the-truck 'mechanical' buy, although I don't foresee any selloff being quite so brutal. Alternatively, a 'camouflage' entry at the pink line, a 'secondary' Hidden Pivot, will probably work best for getting aboard from near these levels. If you are interested in the trade, let me know in the chat room and I will provide timely guidance. ______ UPDATE (Dec 27, 6:15 p.m.): AAPL has gotten shaken down yet again by the same brazen dirtballs who have always called the shots in the stock.  Their rationale for temporarily pulling their bids was the overly familiar story that iPhone sales will fall short of expectations. Does anyone still fall for this line? In any event, it will have no bearing on my bullish outlook for the stock. That would change only if AAPL falls below 165.28.________ UPDATE (Jan 2, 8:46 p.m.): AAPL has entered its third straight month of tedious ups and downs. I would call them gratuitous but for the fact that it has all been preparation for a move to the rally targets noted above. Bored half to death, we have almost no chance of getting aboard at just the right time, which for all I know is...now.  Even so, I'll continue to track and forecast the stock because of its bellwether status and the fact that AAPL by capitalization is

After a steep run-up just before Halloween, AAPL turned boring and remains in an apparent consolidation with the potential to power a move to as high as 194.77. The initial push past the red line, a midpoint Hidden Pivot at 168.49, was strong enough to suggest there's enough juice to achieve the target.  AAPL subsequently became a theoretical 'mechanical' buy on the pullback to the red line, but I would recommend doing so only via a 'camouflage' set-up, assuming you know how the trade works. A 'mechanical' bid could be used at the green line (155.34), stop 142.19, but there are no guarantees the stock will fall that far before it begins its presumptive ascent to 194.77.

AAPL has exceeded all long-term ABCD targets, so I've zoomed in on the most recent phase of its bull market, going back almost exactly one year, to come up with a price objective at 194.77 that should prove useful to us.  The easy move past the 168.49 midpoint Hidden Pivot earlier this month suggests the target has a high probability of being achieved. Also, last week's pullback precisely to the pivot suggests the pattern itself is a good one and that, moreover, if and when 194.77 is reached, there will be a tradable pullback from it -- or perhaps even a bull-market top. For now, a pullback to the red or green lines that meets our simple criteria for a 'mechanical' trade is what we should be looking for. I will signal it in the chat room, presumably to initiate a trade using call options rather than stock, so that more subscribers can participate. _______ UPDATE (Nov 29, 11:05 p.m.): A pullback to x=155.34 (click on chart inset) seems unlikely, buy it would present a golden opportunity to bottom-fish the stock with a mechanical bid, stop 142.19. Plan accordingly. _______ UPDATE (Dec 6, 9:16 p.m.): AAPL was on its way to the 164.91 target of the pattern shown Wednesday, but the arse bandits who manipulate the stock for a living took it down so hard on the opening bar that sellers were depleted before the day was 15 minutes old. Let's see whether they can accomplish on Thursday what they'd set out to do originally.  _______ UPDATE (Dec 8, 12:33 p.m.): The stock has made zero headway in five weeks. The 194.77 bull-market target remains theoretically viable, but you should set the snooze alarm for 183.20, since that's what it would take to waken bulls from their slumber. ______ UPDATE