Both Apple Bulls And Bears See Positives In The Stock's Chart

Apple Inc. AAPL may be the most popular topic of debate on Wall Street. The company’s massive profits, huge cash reserves and low multiple have value investors salivating. But iPhone saturation and slowing growth numbers have others worried that Apple’s stock’s best days are behind it.
 

In the short-term, the bears are winning the argument. The stock is down 21.8 percent in the past year and is struggling to find a return to its bullish ways so far in 2016.

Apple bulls are hoping that the stock’s 6 percent gain in February is a sign that Apple is back on its way to its all-time highs. Unfortunately, the stock seems to have once again run into some selling pressure at around $101.

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If Apple can close significantly above $101 at some point in the next couple of trading days, it would be a positive indicator for bulls that the stock could soon be back to test the longer-term downtrend resistance line at around $110 to $112. However, if the stock fails to penetrate $101, it may be an indication that it will remain range bound between $92 and $101 in the short-term.
 

In the longer-term, Apple bulls and Apple bears also both have reason for hope. A look at Apple’s five-year chart shows how Apple’s stock experienced around a 40 percent pullback as recently as 2012/2013.

For Apple bears, a repeat would put the stock as low as the $77 level within the next few months. However, even if the stock does dip below $80, long-term Apple bulls can take comfort in the fact that the stock followed up its 2013 swoon with a multi-year surge to new all-time highs.

Whether or not Apple’s resistance at $101 holds in coming days will have very little significant impact on the longer-term technicals of the stock, but every big move in either direction has to start somewhere.

Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.