“Shares of Apple have exhibited many trading anomalies in the last week since we predicted that profit-taking might take place around the $600 level,” Evan McDaniel writes for optionMONSTER. “Sure enough, it appears that others were on the same page this week as Apple has seen its worst performance in nearly two months.”
“In my opinion, it appears that profit taking by at least one large institutional player is keeping AAPL in its recent sideways range,” McDaniel writes. “Do I think Apple will go higher? yes, but not after a solid base is formed above $600.”
McDaniel writes, “Which brings me to the ‘flash crash’ in Apple on Friday morning. Many have speculated that the sudden drop to $542.80 was the result of a misprint or a computer glitch. But similar trades hit the tape earlier in the week and were canceled, as was Friday’s. I believe that these trades were done intentionally to scare off buyers and slow the stock’s momentum, with full knowledge that the transactions would be canceled.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Ah, the old “intentional error.”
One good thing, among many, with Apple being the most valuable company on earth is that it’s harder for criminals to manipulate the stock than it was for them on the way up, where they could drop some product FUD or a Jobs health scare rumor on a whim and cash out. Too much attention is on AAPL now for them to screw around too much. Still, where there’s a will there’s a way – or the will to try, at least.
So, where’s the SEC? Still asleep?
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Arline M.” for the heads up.]
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Apple and the risks of trading 29,000 times per second – March 25, 2012
BATS pulls IPO; glitch rattles, briefly halts Apple trades – March 23, 2012