AAPL Dropping as Early Profit Takers Cash In

July 20th, 2009 at 2:28 PM - Columns and Opinions by John Martellaro

Apple's Stock price has been on a steady rise for the past few weeks as analysts have predicted strong revenues and earnings for Apple tomorrow. However, profit taking seems to be getting an early start this time around.

It's well known that ebullience over Apple's performance typically leads to a rise in stock price prior to an earnings report. Apple's Q309 report will be held tomorrow at 2:00 PM PDT.

However, no mater how well Apple does, there are always those who feel Apple should have done better and are disappointed. In addition, all those people who were after some short term gains see the steady rise as a way to generate some cash - especially in an economy that's still fairly weak. That's why AAPL typically takes a dive the evening and the day after the earnings report, no matter how rosy it was.

However, this time around, some investors don't seem to be eager to be at the end of that tail and are cashing in early, starting this afternoon on the East Coast. While many investors may believe that the surge is still on and are pouring money into AAPL right now, others don't want to get stepped on by the bigger investors, grabbing big profits. So they're cashing in right now, living on Internet time, before the larger investors can instantly erase recent, modest investment gains by the little guys.

This is one of the enduring issues in investment stock in 2009, especially AAPL. One either has to take a very long term view and let money sit, or one has to be in tune with the nuances of every day trading. One bad unemployment report by the Feds or a Google hiccup can drag the NASDAQ down and terrify institutional investors who hold AAPL.

The dark days of March were a scary time, and AAPL was selling for less than US$80 per share. Four months later, an eternity for the day trader, AAPL is in the 150s. Many saw the $80 price as an opportunity, and many others are kicking themselves right now for their diffidence.

And so it goes.