Apple Digest: Apple Struggles with Market Downdraft (Chart) *Below 20 day average* AAPL

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Apple iPad 2 opening day crowd at the San Francisco Apple Store (March 11, 2011)

Apple Overview

Apple Inc. AAPL closed at $351.99 on Friday, March 11, 2011 and was -2.23% for the week, is -0.35% for March, is +9.12% for 2011, and is +323.52% from the market cyclical low on March 9, 2009. AAPL set an all-time closing high of $363.16 on February 16, 2011 and now is -3.07% below this peak. Apple is above the then all-time closing high of $348.48 of January 14, 2011. That all-time closing high was on a Friday and Apple Inc. announced the next Monday, January 17, that Co-Founder and CEO Steve Jobs was taking a medical leave of absence.

S&P 500 By comparison, the overall market, the S&P 500, at 1304.28, was -1.28% for the week, is -1.73% for March, and is +3.71% for 2011. SPX is +92.79% since the March 9, 2009 market cyclical low. SPX closed at a multi-year closing high of 1343.01 on Friday, February 18, 2011, the highest close since the June 17, 2008 close of 1350.93. AAPL is outperforming the overall market long-term since the March 9, 2009 market bottom, outperformed the market in 2010, and continues outperforming the market in 2011. A review of the S&P 500 is here [S&P 500 Down -1.28% on Global Uncertainty (Chart) *Rallies above 50 day average on Friday*].

Apple Fundamentals Apple reported calendar Q4 2010 financial results on Tuesday, January 18 which were legendary. Apple reported record revenues and net income which exceeded the previous record-setting results reported for calendar Q3 2010. These financial results are reviewed and analyzed on this blog.. Current Apple financial data, charts, and review is at the Apple Financial Performance page, updated for the latest calendar Q4 2010 results reported on January 18. A review and analysis of the Q4 2010 earnings call has been posted at the Apple Earnings Conference Call page. Our updated valuation and target price of AAPL stock is posted at the Apple Stock Valuation page. International sales accounted for 62% of revenue for Q4 2010, up from 52% in Q3 2010.

Steve Jobs Launches iPad 2 Apple CEO and Co-Founder Steve Jobs launched the iPad 2 on Wednesday, March 2, 2011. This was the first public appearance by Jobs since the announcement of his medical leave on January 17, 2011. Jobs has not lost his touch on compelling Apple product roll outs. Jobs called the iPad the "third post-PC blockbuster product", after the iPod and iPhone, and an obvious jab at the Microsoft PC business model. He further stated the iPad is "a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price". Jobs went on to suggest about the iPad, "some have said this is the most successful consumer product ever launched". He noted about the Tablet PC market, "our competitors are just flummoxed". This Apple Event is reviewed in detail at Steve Jobs Launches iPad 2 and Apple Unveils iOS 4.3.

Apple Product News A summary and review of these announcements are posted on this blog.

=> 2011 The iPad 2 went on sale on Friday, March 11 and promptly sold out online, pushing delivery dates from days to weeks. Lines at Apple stores in the USA were long and the only way to have any hope of purchasing an iPad 2 and taking immediate delivery. Apple launched the iPad 2 and iOS 4.3 on March 2. Steve Jobs also announced 1) 100 million downloads from iBooks store, 2) Random House will begin distributing their 17,000+ books on iBooks, 3) 200 million accounts with credit cards and one-click purchasing on iTunes, App Store, and iBooks, 4) over $2 billion paid to developers from selling apps on the App Store, 5) 100 million iPhones have been shipped, and 6) almost 15 million iPads were sold in 2010. Apple launched the new MacBook Pro on February 24. Steve Jobs met with President Barack Obama at a dinner on February 17. This was the first "semi-public" appearance of CEO Jobs since the announcement of the medical leave on January 17. Apple announced an App Store subscription service for magazines, videos, music, and videos on February 15. The Apple iPhone 4 officially is on the Verizon Wireless network and available at stores effective February 10. Verizon Wireless announced on February 4 record first day launch sales (online pre-order) of the iPhone 4. The record was broken in 2 hours. On January 22 Apple announced the App Store had surpassed 10 billion downloads in about 2.5 years. The online Mac App Store opened on January 6, 2011, increasing Apple's cloud presence, and Apple announced there were 1 million downloads in the first day.

=> 2010 On December 21, Apple reported sales of Apple TV would surpass 1 million units during the week. On October 20, the all-new MacBook Air was unveiled along with updates for the iLife suite, FaceTime for Mac, and a peek at the next OSX upgrade, Lion. Apple launched in September both the iPad and iPhone 4 in China, the world's largest Internet market with a growing consumer base with disposable income. On September 1 with the Apple Special Music Event, CEO Steve Jobs launched new iPods, iTunes, iOS, and Apple TV. Earlier, Apple launched the iPhone 4 in late June and the iPad in early April.

Economic and Market News Information about the USA and world economies plus the USA financial system are posted at Boom Doom Economy, Financial Controls, and Baidu Planet. Additional current commentary on both the overall stock market and economy is posted at Matrix Markets.

Apple Daily Chart

Apple Daily Chart Below is the AAPL daily chart since January 14, 2011, the Friday close of $348.48 which was before the announcement on Monday, January 17 that Apple Co-Founder and CEO Steve Jobs was taking a medical leave of absence.

Noteworthy Closing Prices

Current Close: $351.99

2011 and All-Time High: February 16 $363.13

2011 Low: January 21 $326.72

2010 High: December 28 $325.47

2010 Low: February 4 $192.05

YE December 31, 2010: $322.56

YE December 31, 2009: $210.73

Cyclical Low: January 20, 2009 $78.20

Apple Chart Review
Intermediate Term Trend: 25d sma > 50d sma, bullish
Long Term Trend: 10 month ema = 307.22, bullish
Resistance: 20 day average 352.83, 355 area, 358, 360, 363.16, 364.90
Support: 348.48, 50 day 345.39, 338.61, 325-327 area, 321-320 area

Moving Averages: below 20d, 25d, sma's, above 50d, 100d, 200d sma's

Uptrend Line: above, from 1-20-09 closing low 78.20 up thru 2-4-10 192.05

Downtrend Line: developing, will post next week if in play
RSI 14 day = 51.18 is reasonable
RSI 28 day = 55.90 is reasonable

MACD (12,26,9) = -0.81, level

Volume: Low 16.8M latest day, 20 day avg = 17.8M and 50 day avg = 17.7M

Conclusion The Libyan revolution and resulting spike in oil prices and ongoing EU sovereign debt crisis has created flat to declining equity markets. Apple has encountered this market downdraft and is struggling. Buyer conviction and confidence in Apple Inc. with Steve Jobs on medical leave was strengthened by Jobs appearing for the iPad 2 roll out on March 2. The fundamentals of Apple Inc. are stellar, as discussed above and reviewed on this blog. Our updated stock valuation short-term for AAPL is $370 - 375. The intermediate-term trend continues bullish and the long-term trend continues bullish.

Disclosure We are long AAPL.

About Apple Inc.

Apple Inc. achieved a milestone the week of January 7, 2011 when total market capitalization surpassed $300 billion. Previously, the week of May 24, 2010, Apple surpassed Microsoft in market capitalization to become the largest technology company, and second overall largest company, in the USA. Apple Inc. has managed to continue above $300B market capitalization after the announcement of Steve Jobs' medical leave of absence. AAPL's market capitalization is #2 at $324.28B, compared to #4 Microsoft's of $215.77B. #1 Exxon leads with $407.20B (Exxon surpassed $400 billion in market capitalization the week ending February 4, 2011). Apple reported calendar Q4 2010 revenues of $26.7B and net income of $6.0B. Microsoft reported calendar Q4 2010 revenues of $19.95B and net income of $6.6B. Current Apple financial data is at the Apple Financial Performance page. Current Microsoft financial data is at the Microsoft Financial Performance page. Apple is now 21.12% of the NASDAQ 100 index, as measured by the PowerShares QQQQ ETF portfolio holdings, weighted by market capitalization. AAPL is one of the most traded stocks in the USA. Per the SEC Form 10-K, Apple had 46,600 full-time employees and 2,800 temporary full-time employees and contractors as of September 25, 2010.

Apple's Mission Statement and as described in press releases, "Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices."

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