by , 3:45 PM EST, November 19th, 2007

Apple's stock traditionally rallies in the calendar 4Q. That combined with the massive crowds expected at Apple stores on Black Friday should return AAPL to a more positive trend by year end, according to Carl Howe of Blackfriars Communications on Monday.

"I really like Gene Munster's work, and our price targets are quite similar. I think that now we are past November options expiration and hedge fund redemption limits for the year, a lot of the downward pressure on Apple stock is, in my opinion, behind us," Mr. Howe wrote.

"I don't think today's stock price accurately yet reflects Apple's own optimism about the holiday quarter that it projected in its earnings call. My models tend to be pretty aggressive and usually are significantly higher than what Apple projects," the marketing expert added. "...I think it very likely they are going to do substantially better than what I thought were optimistic projections."

Mr. Howe noted that no one can predict the short term movement of Apple stock, and AAPL was again down for the day. "Oh well," he wrote. Even so, he's happy to have Gene Munster's company.

In afternoon trading, AAPL was at US$164.18, down $2.21 for the day.