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Showing posts with label Head and Shoulder Pattern. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Head and Shoulder Pattern. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Fireworks Ahead!

NOTE:  Only about half the discounted annual memberships are left.  Many of you have memberships expiring this month.  If you plan on upgrading or extending or haven't completed your order yet, don't forget it's first come-first served. 

The sale will be announced outside the membership tomorrow if any memberships are left at the discounted price.  This will likely be the last sale before the Fund goes live and memberships to the current website will no longer be accepted.  CLICK HERE

Also, I intended to post the May and June performance last night, but ran out of time.  I should get it posted later this afternoon.  Check back HERE.  I have put together a page describing the basic investment philosophy and strategy underlying this site that some might find interesting: HERE



Reposted from pebblewriter.com...

Everything is going according to plan this morning, with all currency pairs approaching their targets from last week.

The dollar is back to the white channel midline where exciting things happen.  The last squirt higher led to 84.595 on May 23, the day after SPX topped out at 1687.

This time, however, there's a falling purple channel and the .786 Fib line to consider.



A close up reveals that DX is also pushing up through the red channel .382 line.


While the EURUSD is approaching the .786 retracement of its rally from the 1.2795 low, the red channel midline and the bottom of the light blue channel.


A close up...


The USDJPY is closing in on our 101.59 target at the .786 Fib.


The e-minis, which back-tested the bottom of their purple channel at the white .500 Fib yesterday, took another run overnight but fell short -- reaching only the top of the falling red channel.


We'll see if SPX has enough juice left to take its own shot.  The first test this morning will be pushing through the top of the red channel -- at least intra-day -- at about 1621.50.

UPDATE:  9:52 AM

SPX reached the red channel and is debating whether to push through or take a breather.


Recall, the cluster of targets we discussed last week includes:
  • the gap fill at 1629.22
  • the IH&S target at 1631.67
  • the red .786 Fib at 1634.10
  • the grey .618 at 1638.72
SPX came within 3 points of filling the gap yesterday, but ran into the same channel top and fell back to close at the bottom of the grey channel in the 5th such stop-clearing exercise in a week and the 9th close at or near the daily low in a fortnight.

It also tagged the .500 grey Fib (of 1687-1560) yesterday, where it (so far) reacted less than it did at the red .618.

So, the red pattern is assumed to be the one in charge, with a Gartley Pattern completion at the red .786 (1634.10) the next major Fib target on the radar.

UPDATE:  10:15 AM

A close up shows two smaller patterns also pointing to the 1631-1635 range if SPX can poke through the red channel top.  Note also the presence of the pink .618 here -- contributing to the pause.


We've had a few pieces of economic news this morning.  First, the Fed is set to vote on Basel III this morning.  While significantly watered down, it could still be construed as a speed bump on the road to global financial domination.

Also, Census released the factory orders survey for May. The managed (a.k.a. seasonally adjusted) version came in slightly higher than expected, at +2.1% versus 2.0% consensus and 1.3% for April.



There is bound to be some concern that the slight beat undermines support for QE (does anything else matter?)

This explains why the less-managed, de-emphasized, and not seasonally adjusted number, at +5.4% month-over-month, is the better number for a change.  Remember the good old days when they massaged the numbers to make things look better?

Thursday, April 25, 2013

The Best Laid Plans

The best laid plans of mice and men
Go often awry,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!
Robert Burns, 1785


ORIGINAL POST:  6:45 AM EDT

The wedges we've been watching on DX and EURUSD are playing out.  EURUSD has broken out...



...and DX has broken down.


But, it's the USDJPY that I'm watching especially closely this morning.  It still hasn't broken 100 since our Apr 8 observation [USDJPY update] that it was running out of steam:
"...there is growing risk of a downturn as it approaches 100... it appears the pair might have hit at least interim resistance at today’s high."
It topped out 3 sessions later at 99.94, and two weeks later is in danger of a larger pullback.


Remember, weakening the yen was a critical element of the BOJ's stimulus program that was supposed to generate inflation, boost Toyota sales and send Japanese investment funds flooding into foreign markets.


Instead, Japanese investors are repatriating their funds from abroad -- a net Y9.5 trillion ($95 billion) since the first of the year.  Why?  As any US investor could tell you, QE might not inflate economies, but it sure as hell inflates markets.

The Nikkei 225 is up 65% since last October's lows....


...and, still hasn't even recovered 2/3 of its losses from the 2007 crash.  The Dow and the S&P 500, by contrast, have recovered all of them -- and, then some.  So, to many, the Nikkei still seems the better value.  It's hard to argue with success.

But, I'll do it anyway.  In reaching 14,020 a few hours ago, NKD tagged the .618 Fibonacci retracement of its 2007-2009 crash from 18,365 to 6990.


To those not familiar with harmonics, this tends to be a big deal.  When SPX reached the equivalent point in April 2010, it plunged 17%.  The DJIA fell almost 15%.  The USD, represented by DX, soared 9.3%.

But, the yen positively soared.  USDJPY started a 17-month slide that took the pair down 20% from 94.98 to 75.78.  NKD, which had just reached its .382 Fib, shed 23% over the next 4 months, eventually reaching almost 30% in Nov 2011.

Could the USDJPY's failure to break 100 be telling us something?  You better believe it.  I called a top a few weeks ago because the pair had reached several important Fib levels as well as the midline of an important channel (in yellow, below)...


...that dates back to 1995.


There's no guarantee it won't push through instead of retreating, but the RSI picture supports the danger of a significant retreat.

Daily RSI has backtested the broken yellow channel twice, but the trend is clearly down -- with the latest push being rebuffed by the purple midline.


And, a close-up reveals that a breakdown has already started.



Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Chart Patterns and You

ORIGINAL POST:  9:15 AM EST

Last night, the dollar tagged the .786 Fib retracement of its decline from Apr 4.  It subsequently sold off almost to the .618 but, so far, is hanging in a rising wedge.



The EURUSD re-tested the .500 Fib of its rise from Apr 3, and snapped back into its falling wedge and the (purple) channel that's guided prices since then.



The e-minis tacked on a few points overnight -- almost reaching the .786, only to give them all back with this morning's underwhelming Durable Goods report.  The Head & Shoulders Pattern that was looking pretty good at yesterday's open is now looking a little iffy, with a right shoulder that's already 15 points higher than the left.


UPDATE:  9:45 AM

SPX continues trudging toward the .786 retracement (1584.23) of its decline from 1597 to 1536.


After plunging beneath the channel that's guided it from 1343 to 1597 on Apr 17, SPX rallied and re-joined the channel yesterday.  This was a very bullish development, as long as SPX remained in the channel all the way to the closing bell.

Despite a five minute thrill ride from 1578 to 1563 (the channel bottom) and back, SPX managed to regain and hold the 2007 high of 1576.09 into the close.

It now sits perched on the neckline of an Inverted H&S Pattern which has either completed or not, depending on whether a 5-minute plunge qualifies as a shoulder.  Short answer -- I have no clue.


Here's what we do know:
  1. Prior to Apr 17, SPX had been locked into that purple channel below since 1343 on Nov 16 -- an 18.9% gain in five months
  2. SPX barely paused when it completed two big Crab Patterns -- the 1.618 extensions of the 1370-1074 decline and the 1474-1343 decline (purple and white below)
  3. Instead, SPX exceeded the Oct 2007 high of 1576.09 (yellow)
  4. SPX reversed at 1597.35, almost precisely at a trend line drawn between the 2000 and 2007 highs
  5. SPX fell 3.8%, making a lower low, dropping out of the channel mentioned above and suggesting a H&S pattern that targets 1474 -- the Sep 2012 high (white pattern)
  6. It roared back into the channel, retracing almost 78.6% of its drop
  7. In the process, it topped the 1576.09 high and the 1553 and 1555 Fib levels and almost reaching the 1583 target of an IH&S Pattern
  8. Depending on your interpretation, it might also have completed an IH&S that targets 1621.



What Does It All Mean?

When I forecast markets, I look for lines in the sand.  I try to determine price levels that, if crossed, would signal a change in trend.  When that trend switches from bullish to bearish, I want to be short.  When it switches from bearish to bullish, I want to be long.

A channel is one such method that features boundaries rather than absolute price levels.
As long as prices remain in a rising (or falling) channel, we can expect prices to continue to rise (or fall.)  It's rather simplistic, but it usually works.  We can make educated guesses as to future price targets based on where the channels point.

Of course, even well-formed channels (multiple tags on the top and bottom and over a sufficient time period) can't go on forever.  I look for moments when prices must choose whether to remain in or leave the channel.  A tag of a top or bottom bound or midline usually create opportunities, though other lines can as well.

The Real World

Recall that we shorted SPX at the 1597 high on the 11th [see: Big Picture], riding down to the channel bottom where I went long at 1554, expecting at least a bounce.  We got one on the 16th with SPX rallying up to 1575 -- the channel .25 line.

We closed our long position, going short the following morning for the trip back to the channel bottom at 1555.  We tried another long position there, but were quickly stopped out as the channel was broken -- signalling a bearish trend change.

So, we shorted again, playing quite a few bounces down to 1540 where we eventually went long in anticipation of establishing a H&S Pattern neckline [see: Dollar Daze.]

At that point, I expected a back-test of the broken channel.  We got it, reaching 1565 on the 22nd but closing beneath the channel's lower bound.  Note that this move completed 5/6 of a H&S, but the right shoulder was underdeveloped relative to the left.

Anticipating an intra-day retracement to 1567 (the .500 Fib) or 1574 (the .618) the next day (yesterday), I stayed long -- trying without much success to anticipate the top.  Since SPX topped the .618, the next up on the chart is today's target: the .786 at 1584.23.

Going Forward

With all that as preamble, here's what I expect going forward.

...continued on pebblewriter.com...

Friday, March 22, 2013

Anatomy of a Market Top

reposted from pebblewriter.com~

The 2000 top shows just how "messy" tops can be.  Here's the finished picture in perfect hind-sight.  It's a very crowded chart, but every single pattern had a say in how the top unfolded.

SPX had zoomed from 442 to 1478 in about 5 years, a not-too-shabby 234% gain for an annually compounded 27%.



Once SPX broke out of the falling purple channel, it had "permission" to pursue several harmonic patterns in the works.  SPX shot up 66 points in that one day -- blowing through every Fib level between .618 and 1.000.

It finally came to rest at 1458, completing a Bat Pattern at the purple .886.  But, the small white 1.272 was just above at 1477, as was the rising purple channel midline and the 1.272 from a much larger pattern seen below.

An IH&S target waited at 1497 - tantalizingly close to a nice round number of 1500.  And, the all-time high of 1478 from two months earlier beckoned.


SPX got up to 1477.33 before reacting, falling to 1466 over the next two days.  Close, but not quite.  Someone watching closely might have noticed the Flag Pattern it constructed, targeting 1562.  Someone else probably pointed out the biggest Crab Pattern target of all -- the 1.618 extension of the 13% correction from 1420 to 1233 from Jul-Oct 1999.

On Mar 21, 2000 SPX shot up through the channel midline, the cluster of Fibs around 1477 and, importantly, the 1478 high and raced up toward those higher targets.

On Mar 24, it reached 1552.87, which cleared the IH&S target at 1497, the purple 1.272 at 1519 and the last remaining Crab Pattern at 1535.  What ultimately stopped it?  The .75 line from the big purple channel dating back to Jul 1999 -- almost to the penny.

Total move: 17% and 227 points in 20 sessions.  Could it happen again?  Stay tuned.

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Thursday, March 21, 2013

Charts I'm Watching: Mar 20, 2013

~reposted from pebblewriter.com:

9:00 AM EDT

The ECB's vow to do "whatever it takes"apparently translates into strong-arming the Russians into bailing out Cyprus.  Still no break out on the EURUSD, though.



It makes sense to play along with the upside on SPX, but keep stops close.  Not sure whether this rally will have legs.  The dollar looks like it's finding support here.



UPDATE:  09:33 AM

Just reached the .786 of the move down from 1563.62 (purple) and the .886 of our proposed path to 1576 (white.)  Full short again, stops at 1561ish.  Revised charts in a few...


UPDATE:  09:55 AM

The daily chart tells the story.  The most prominent features include:
  • large 1474-1343 Crab Pattern completion at 1555.57 (yellow)
  • large 1370-1074 Crab Pattern completion at 1553.39 (red)
  • small 1530-1485 Crab Pattern completion at 1559.32 (white)
  • small broken rising wedge -- at 1563 top
  • long-term TL and channel top (white) at 1560


UPDATE:  11:10 AM

SPX continues to position itself for a run at 1576.  The 5-min chart shows a small potential Crab Pattern with a 1.618 at 1577 and a Flag Pattern targeting 1576.

It has broken back above and backtested the purple channel midline and retraced nearly .886 of its drop from 1562 and a little more than .786 of the drop from 1563.62.


While it's positioned for 1576, there is no more certainty than when we first broke 1555 on the Mar 14 overnight ramp job.  The large, bearish patterns listed above have still not produced the kind of sell-off they normally do.

And, it's all because of the Fed's media's cheerleaders' TPTB's determination to be able to tout a swell new all-time high for the S&P 500.

In addition to the little Crab Pattern (purple) that targets 1577 and the flag pattern targeting 1576, there's an obvious effort to construct an IH&S pattern targeting 1580.  It could benefit from a lower right shoulder, but bulls must beware of crossing back beneath the purple channel midline.


The S2 shoulder isn't quite legit, BTW, as the neckline doesn't quite connect on the left side.  But, the S1 shoulder is quite a ways down there.  So, if the pattern plays out, be prepared for some serious chop.

UPDATE:  1:00 PM

With the FOMC announcement a little over an hour away, let's resume our chat about the big picture.  If it seems like we're "lost in the reeds" as one reader so aptly put it, it's because we are.

The large Crab Pattern completions promised a good-sized dump last week at 1553/1555.  Instead we've inched higher.  Why?  These patterns completed in the middle of harmonic no-man's land: the gap between an .886 retracement and a double-top.

The .886 retracement (of the 1576-666 crash) produced a 9% reversal back on Sep 14.  Since then, SPX came screaming back to retake the 1576 all-time high -- but slammed into the Crab Patterns and a very important channel line along the way.

Now, it doesn't know what to do.

Double tops usually produce reversals, too -- sometimes meaningful ones as we found out on October 11, 2007, when SPX scooted up past the 1552 top from 2000 by a whopping 24 points before dropping 58%. 

The 2000 top itself shows just how "messy" tops can be.  Here's the finished picture in perfect hind-sight.  It's a very crowded chart, but every pattern on there had a say in how the top unfolded.


Once SPX broke out of the falling purple channel, it had "permission" to pursue several harmonic patterns in the works.  SPX shot up 66 points in that one day -- blowing through every Fib level between .618 and 1.000.

It finally came to rest at 1458, completing a Bat Pattern at the purple .886.  But, the small white 1.272 was just above at 1477, as was the rising purple channel midline and the 1.272 from a much larger pattern seen below.  An IH&S target waited at 1497 - tantalizingly close to the nice round number of 1500.  The all-time high of 1478 from two months earlier beckoned.


SPX got up to 1477.33 before reacting, falling to 1466 over the next two days.  Close, but not quite.  Someone watching closely might have noticed the Flag Pattern it constructed, targeting 1562.  Someone else probably pointed out the biggest Crab Pattern target of all -- the 1.618 extension of the 13% correction from 1420 to 1233 from Jul-Oct 1999.

I don't know what the catalyst was, but on Mar 21, 2000 (that date sounds awfully familiar) SPX shot up through the channel midline, the cluster of Fibs around 1477 and, importantly, the 1478 high and raced up toward those higher targets.

On Mar 24, it reached 1552.87, which cleared the IH&S target at 1497, the purple 1.272 at 1519 and the last remaining Crab Pattern at 1535.  What ultimately stopped it?  The .75 line from the big purple channel dating back to Jul 1999 -- almost to the penny.

Total move: 17% and 227 points in 20 sessions.  Could it happen again?

continued for members...

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Tuesday, March 5, 2013

After the Funding's Gone

~reposted from pebblewriter.com

After a scary drop in equity futures overnight, the market looks to open soft...but not exactly panicked. I remain short since 1525.34 on the 28th, but will continue to play any significant bounces that come our way.

The dollar is still looking strong, reflecting both plenty of fear and euro weakness.  Note, DX reached our intermediate target range from last month (the red .618 @ 82.22 & white 1.618 at 82.28.)



The next level of resistance is the red .786 at 83.064 where it intersects with the purple 1.618 at 83.122.  The acceleration channel that's carried prices skyward since Feb 1 intersects that nexus this week.

Also intersecting there are two channel lines -- the large white midline and the much larger yellow midline -- seen here on the weekly chart.


Daily RSI still shows plenty of upside potential, though we've also seen some negative divergence start to creep into the picture.


As noted back on Feb 21, the EURUSD has broken down from its rising channel (white) and has accelerated to the downside, breaking the Jan 4 1.2996 low and the psychologically important 1.30 level.


The intersection of the purple .618 and two white channels at 1.38 will have to wait (until my next visit across The Pond, no doubt.)


Losing the rising white channel hurts momentum quite a bit, but it's the drop back through the 75% line on the falling white channel that represents the bigger problem for the pair.

This channel dates all the way back to Dec 06. Reaching the top for the third time is still possible, of course, but it's that much harder now that the pair needs to retake the higher channel line and mount a fresh attack.

I've redrawn the falling white channel as red and will lower its top (for now) to reflect the brick wall it ran into.  I've also sketched in a more relaxed rising channel (light blue) that reflects potential channel support at current prices (the intersection of the falling red .75 and the rising light blue .25.)


I don't know whether the pair needs to retest the falling white midline or not.  The bottom of the new light blue channel intersects with the red .75 in mid-March.  Also there is the .25 of the very large rising purple channel, which provided a huge bounce in Jun 2010.  It's easier to see in the LT chart below.




Recall that we closed a long position and last went short at 1525.34.  From there, SPX fell nearly to our initial target (1496-1500), reaching 1501.48 Friday morning before the bounce to 1519.99.

As we discussed last week, the reversal at the red .786 could be the full extent of a corrective wave on the way lower (the B wave in an A-B-C)  that is meant to test the bottom of the white or purple channels.  But, it could also be the Point B in a Butterfly Pattern targeting 1531 or 1540.


continued on pebblewriter.com... 

 

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

AAPL: Breaking Out?

~reposted from pebblewriter.com

AAPL has bounced nearly 50 points since its Jan 25 low, leading many to wonder whether the worst is over.  When I started this post about a week ago, all the talking heads were talking "breakout."  We'll give the old crystal ball a polish and see whether that's likely.

When I posted that AAPL seemed to finding support back on the 24th, it was because of the long-term channel (in purple, below) that's guided its upside since the year 2000 [see: That All You Got?] The top of it, by the way, is up around 1775.

AAPL bottomed the next day at 435 (one point from our Nov 27 forecast), and obviously still hasn't broken that channel.  The channel top, by the way, is currently up around 1880.




As we've noted before, there are other long-term channels at play, too.  Note the white channel casts a rather bearish pall, while the yellow channel promises at least a bounce here.  So, which to believe?



GETTING HERE


We've been very fortunate in forecasting AAPL over the past several months, calling several significant tops and bottoms with decent accuracy.

Nov 8:  Harmonics Are Your Friend:  

It looked like AAPL was about to bottom out, followed by a sizable bounce.
"AAPL should get a brief bump higher as SPX does — perhaps to 600 or 620.  Of course, if it stalls there, it will have formed 5/6 of a huge H&S pattern... "
It bottomed 6 sessions later when the S&P 500 dropped down to tag our 1344 target  [see: Charts I'm Watching Nov 15.]  From there, we were looking for a bounce to 600.

Nov 27: Update on AAPL:

As AAPL approached our 600 target, I anticipated a reversal and completion of a Head & Shoulder Pattern that would bounce first at the neckline before plunging below.
"A reversal here could quite likely spell a return to the channel bottom — which will be around 434...
...it’s easy to imagine a scenario where prices drop to [the neckline at] 500 into the end of the year, but can’t quite seal the deal on the H&S pattern...
If, on the other hand, AAPL breaks down below [the neckline], look for a back test followed by a more serious plunge."
AAPL topped out two sessions later at 594 and plunged to the neckline at 501 where it failed to "seal the deal,"  bouncing for two weeks before finally falling below the neckline on Jan 15.

It back-tested the neckline for a week before taking a "more serious plunge" down to 435, one point from our original Nov 27 target.

GOING FORWARD


The purple channel has done its job so far.  Can it continue to stave off the damage of the completed Head & Shoulder Pattern?  H&S Patterns commonly back test their necklines.  Back tests can even exceed the neckline, as has AAPL's in several cases.

As we've discussed many times, AAPL has been in a fairly tight price channel all the way down from 705 (below, in white.)


The upper bound of this channel intersects with the H&S neckline at about 498-500 around Feb 19 (there is some wiggle room, depending on exactly how the channel is drawn.)  This likely represents the extent of any short-term upside.

As for the downside, the white channel midline intersects with the purple channel at about 450-452 around Feb 20.  The white upper bound intersects with the purple channel bottom  465 on Mar 18.

But, note the large red falling channel.  It's dicey to consider it well-established, since the "top" consists of only one tag.  But, it looks to me like it has potential over the medium-term.

Today, AAPL is testing its 25% line; and, a close above 473 or so would be positive -- arguing for the more bullish of the two scenarios above.


The daily RSI recently poked up through the white midline and the yellow 75% line, but appears to be backtesting both.  This would be consistent with a dip to 450, where AAPL could back-test the white price channel midline and the purple channel bottom (the purple circle.)

From there, the top of the yellow RSI channel beckons -- which probably corresponds with a return to test the neckline around 500.  As noted above, this could occur as soon as Feb 19 if prices are to remain in the white channel.

And, what if prices break out of the white channel?  Keep an eye on the RSI.  A break above the neckline would probably require a break out from the yellow RSI channel.  While, remaining in the yellow channel probably means a period of consolidation until early May, when the purple channel and neckline intersect at about 490.

One other issue often discussed is the expiration of the 30-day wash sale period.  The biggest volume spikes in the past few months were the plunges of Nov 16, Dec 6, Dec 14 and Jan 24-25.  So, the only remaining relevant buyers who might rush back in are those who sold in the 435-465 range on Jan 24-25.

Since the stock has gained a few points since then, these sellers might be expected to believe the worst is over and that it's safe to re-enter at these levels -- especially since the rest of the market is setting new highs.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

AAPL: Flirting with Disaster

Not since the summer of 1666, as young Zack Newton sat pondering gravity, has so much attention been paid to a falling apple.

Should we care about AAPL's deteriorating powers of levitation?  The $200/share drop since its September highs, especially on the heels of a new dividend and share buyback program, has been unnerving.  But, if you invest based on fundamentals, it's a solid company selling at 11 times earnings and a 62% 5-year CAGR -- which happens to be on sale.

If you pay attention to chart patterns, however, AAPL is flirting with disaster.  It's a mere point or two from completing a Head & Shoulders pattern that targets the low 300's. [To read about how H&S patterns work, click HERE.]



Even if you don't give a darn about chart patterns, know that many other investors do.  The four tags of the white trend line (the neckline) in the past month are ample proof.  So are the many previously completed patterns that weighed on AAPL.

In January 2008, AAPL completed a H&S pattern that saw share prices drop from 200 to 115 in a few short weeks.


Buyers at 115 were rewarded with a rebound to 190, then punished by a plunge to 78 as the rebound completed a right shoulder in a much larger H&S pattern.


Not every pattern plays out, of course.  Consider the pattern below from 1993-1994 -- a well-formed pattern that targeted much lower prices.


Instead of a big drop off, AAPL found channel support before much damage was done.  Prices rebounded to new highs where they formed a new pattern (in white) which did play out.


Like any other chart pattern, H&S patterns don't occur in a vacuum.  Channels and harmonics often influence the ultimate outcome.

The channel that saved the day in 1995 is still with us, though it most recently offered resistance to higher prices instead of a floor.  It's the white channel in the chart below.

The much smaller, steeply rising purple channel, on the other hand, has kept prices rising -- putting AAPL back on track after two significant sell-offs.  It's currently around 445 -- within a few points of the Crab Pattern 1.618 extension of the failed mid-November rally.


If the current H&S pattern plays out and AAPL drops below the purple channel support, there's another, less bullish channel that could come into play -- seen in yellow below.


The next lower channel line is in the vicinity of the purple line referenced above: 430 or so.  But, if gravity takes hold, mid-line support doesn't show up until around 300.  Ouch.


There are a dozen or more other patterns that could easily influence AAPL's future. There are also many fundamental events that could strengthen the price.

The company's current share buyback scheme, for instance, is only $10 billion -- about the average daily volume at $500/share.  But, with $120 billion in cash on the books and virtually no debt, the company could easily expand it to a more meaningful level.

If this most widely held stock were to crash, could the rest of the market be far behind?  I think there's little question it would. Such an outcome would spell disaster for the bullish story line that TPTB have been working so diligently to construct.

Might they join company insiders in supporting the stock here at 500?  It would be a lot cheaper than another round of QE and, in the end, probably more effective.

Stay tuned.

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reprinted from pebblewriter.com