To quote the YouTube sensation Michael Buckley, "What the buck?!"
Seriously, the stock market continues to amaze me. Sometimes it's just best to stand on the sidelines and watch it run its course. This is why I've reduced the frequency of my posts over the past month or so - trading opportunities with high probability of success are limited and it's best to simply allow the market to present them to you with time rather than forcing them.
I would contend that the bull market we are witnessing may be the greatest in history: fierce, unapologetic, and simply wiping out perma-bears in droves. I don't know how much longer this can last, as we are now culminating our sixth year since the March 2009 financial crisis lows. What I do know is that the charts and price action speak for themselves, and this has presented invaluable opportunities for both trading and learning.
What better a stock to illustrate this surreal reality then $AAPL. Let's take a look at the weekly versus daily chart below:
$AAPL : Apple Inc.
Last week, $AAPL had its largest weekly gain since the stock split last year, rising from an open price of $118.55 to close at $127.08, an increase in value of $8.53 a share.
In fact, I can't find any other period going back through the past several years of the stock's history in which it gained this much market value in such a short time frame. Just a month ago, $AAPL was trading below $110 a share and has since closed green for the past four weeks.
$AAPL continues to march higher as this week approaches its end, having closed yesterday's trading session at $128.45. If the stock manages to hold above this week's open price of $127.49, tomorrow's close would mark its fifth week up in a row.
The daily chart shows that $AAPL really took off when it overcame the $120 resistance level that we observed at the end of November. There are several gaps that may potentially be filled on any pullback in price, as highlighted by the light blue shaded areas: these gaps occur around the $122 and $125 levels.
This week's price action hasn't been as exciting as last week's: the price range has been limited to just a few dollars since Monday's $127.49 open. The bulls are currently struggling to overcome the $129 level, as bears exert selling pressure there.
The RSI is still above 60, so the bulls are in control on the daily time frame. A consolidation in price may be in order soon, given $AAPL's steep rise over the past month. Watch the 9 day moving average, as it currently is at $124.90, coinciding with the first gap zone to be mindful of around the $125 level.