[4:30 PM] Apple Stock Watch: STOCK SPLIT ALERT: Apple Opens Tomorrow At $50 5/8
by Wes George
Apple's stock is attempting a comeback! So much for the theory that stock splits don't help stock prices. Apple's 2 for 1 split goes into effect tomorrow morning and on the last day of trading before the split Apple soared for a second day.
Apple's dramatic 10 dollar rise in the last two days isn't due only to the stock split. The AAPL is oversold and the Nasdaq is experiencing a stock pickers rally where value actually matters once again.
Meanwhile, Apple is approaching a point in Apple cycle just ahead of Macworld in July when the company's stock has outperformed the market in the past.
Apple jumped 4 5/8 to close at 101 1/4 on high volume of 4.4 million shares.
AAPL burst out this morning, up $6 in the first 15 minutes. The stock tested the strong resistance zone that Apple has built since December in the low triple digits, but couldn't break through. The stock traded as high as 104 dollars. AAPL has had a strong boost off recent lows with good volume. However, some of AAPL rapid gains may be driven by traders forced to buy the stock back to cover their short positions.
Apple announced that its second annual QuickTime Live! Conference will be held October 9-12 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The four-day conference will feature keynotes, in-depth technical conference sessions, comprehensive full-day workshops and a product showcase. Sounds like Apple is networking in ground zero of Hollywood -- a place traditionally opposed to much of what transpires on the Internet.
The Nasdaq climbed 23 points (0.59%) to closed at 4013 on light volume of 1.6 billion shares. We appear to be back to the days when tech stocks dominated the market action. Technology's rapid growth can't be beat by the stocks of the old economy, while the stomped down prices of many tech stocks -- including Apple's -- look cheap compared to their 52-week highs.
The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX) is now up 79% for the year. Compare that to the -1.37% loss for the Nasdaq composite for the year-to-date.
The Dow fell 122 points (-1.16%) to close near the day's low at 110435 on volume of 1.01 billion shares.
The S&P 500 dropped 9.79 points (-0.66%) to close at 1476.21.
The Mac Observer Stock Watch Virtual Portfolio: IBM sold off 4 bucks to close at 116, holding back our portfolio.
In Apple related businesses: Akamai rose 1 1/4 to 94 dollars. ARM Holdings gained 5/8 to close at 34 7/16. Adobe traded up 3 7/8 to 131 1/4. Motorola gained 3/16 to 34 7/16. IBM shed 4 to 116 3/8.
Apple's competitors: Hewlett Packard lost 1 3/8 to close at 116 7/16. Gateway was down 1/8 to 60 3/8. Intel climbed 1 13/16 to close at 138 5/16.
Shares of Microsoft were up 1 5/16 at 75 dollars. Late in the day news broke that Judge Jackson has stayed his ruling including provisions that "interim remedies" be applied to Microsoft during the company's appeal to a high court. That means business-as-usual for Microsoft continues, perhaps for years.
The Judge also requests the Supreme Court to directly hear the Microsoft appeal. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals, which had jumped at the chance to hear the case, now says that it would stand down if the Supreme Court is going to second guess their decision by hearing the case once more after the lower court's decision.
For full quotes on all the companies mentioned in this article, we have assembled this set of quotes at Yahoo! for your reference. We also have many of these same quotes reported live (20 minute delay) on our home page. For other stories regarding Apple's stock activity, visit our Apple Stock Watch Special Report.
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