It’s Triple Witching Friday

“Triple Witching Friday is an event that occurs when the contracts for the stock index futures, stock index options and stock options all expire on the same day,” Golden Hammer writes for Seeking Alpha. “Triple witching days happen four times a year on the third Friday of March, June, September and December. It just so happens that today is that day.”

“Today I expect to see large volumes of buying and/or selling as investors try to cover their open positions,” Hammer writes. “I expect those who sold the naked calls to take large short positions this morning in an attempt to drive the prices lower before covering. This typically can allow for 2%-3% swings on a day like today.”

Hammer writes, “I expect all of the indexes to open approximately 1% lower tomorrow as the shorts begin to initiate their positions. Given the extreme caution surrounding this fiscal cliff, I doubt the bulls will have enough positive momentum to beat out the bears early in the day. I do believe however we can expect to see a sharp rise going into the final hour before the market closes. I base this option on the fact that next week holds potential for both a “Santa Claus rally week” as well as a possible cliff resolution. This would grant those who are willing to hold out a very happy new year.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: And, rumors of today’s apocalypse were greatly exaggerated.

Why Apple stock might regain $600 this week

“Shares of tech giant Apple are up over 1% in early morning trading reaching as high as $580 - helped by a bullish report from analyst Glen Yeung of Citigroup,” Richard Saintvilus writes for Forbes. “Likewise, early sales indicators from the Black Friday weekend points to another monster quarter for Apple. Many analysts point to the fact that Apple had not had to offer significant discounts of its iPad mini as a sign of strong demand.”

“Ahead of the shopping season, analysts had initially projected iPad mini sales to reach an estimated 5 million units,” Saintvilus writes. “However, with the device commanding such interest from retailers such as Walmart and Best Buy, it is not out of the realm of possibility that Apple might exceed that total before Christmas on its way to at least 6.5 million units.”

Saintvilus writes, “From an investment perspective, it's hard not to like the stock at any price under $600. The stock has rebounded nicely after dropping as much as 30% a recent low of $505. The decline was largely due to concerns over the "fiscal cliff." However, shares seem poised to regain the $600 mark.”

Read more in the full article here.

Related article:
Citigroup initiates AAPL coverage with 'Buy' rating – November 26, 2012

Analyst ups rating on Apple to ‘Strong Buy’

“Apple Inc. (AAPL) may have pulled back substantially from its highs, but one research upgrade has come out today,” Jon C. Ogg reports for 24/7 Wall St.

“S&P Capital IQ raised its rating to Strong Buy from Buy,” Ogg reports. “As recently as yesterday we saw that S&P Capital IQ had a Buy rating and a $700 price target. The call is after shares have fallen by 23% or so from their recent highs. but analyst Scott Kessler is not changing his price target objective from the $700 mark.”

Ogg reports, “S&P Capital IQ sees the fundamental story unchanged and intact and Kessler believes that Apple could decide to allocate more capital toward dividends and buybacks.”

Read more in the full article here.

Jim Cramer: Apple is a sell ahead of U.S. ‘fiscal cliff’

“For years, Jim Cramer worked as a broker at Goldman Sachs, the prestigious investment firm on Wall Street. After stocks took a sharp nosedive in a post-election selloff Wednesday, he wondered what he might tell his clients, if he was still working as a broker,” Drew Sandholm reports for CNBC. “To start, the ‘Mad Money’ host would recommend taking profits in some of the biggest winners.”

“‘Needless to say, a stock like Apple is very right for this kind of call and I think it played out all day today because it makes so much sense to sell it now and take the capital gain as many have huge profits here,’ Cramer said. ‘These people are natural sellers and they don’t care that next year could be better, they want to take the gain this year to get the tax break, which is worth more than any capital appreciation they could hope for,’” Sandholm reports. “Cramer said, ‘I would then tell my clients that we will almost immediately start to put money to work in companies that will not be hurt by the fiscal cliff, ones that do fine in a slowdown that the cliff could bring.’”

Read more in the full article here.

Related article:
Apple shares slide to 5-month low – November 7, 2012

U.S. stocks rise ahead of presidential election results; Why is Apple’s stock missing the Election Day rally?

“U.S. stocks rose, sending the Standard & Poor's 500 Index higher for a second straight day, as American voters went to the polls to pick a president,” Rita Nazareth and Adria Cimino report for Bloomberg. “The S&P 500 rose 0.8 percent to 1,428.35 at 4 p.m. in New York. ‘We're moving closer to a definition on the election front,’ said Mark Luschini, who helps manage $54 billion as chief investment strategist for Philadelphia-based Janney Montgomery Scott LLC. ‘It's offering investors reason to say: we move from the unknown category regardless of the outcome.’”

“U.S. voters decide today between giving President Barack Obama another four years in office or replacing him with Republican challenger Mitt Romney,” Nazareth and Cimino report. “The next president will need to address a so-called fiscal cliff of more than $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts that take effect in 2013 unless Congress can reach a budget compromise.”

Read more in the full article here.

“For most of the Election Day, Wall Street has been on a rally mode, with almost every asset category and every stock heading north,” Panos Mourdoukoutas writes for Forbes.

“One popular stock, however, isn't participating in the rally: Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). After gaining slightly in early morning trade and touching $590, the stock was heading south towards the $580 mark in the afternoon,” Mourdoukoutas writes. “What's upsetting traders this time around?”

Mourdoukoutas writes, “My theory is that Apple isn't an election-sensitive stock. It doesn't stand to benefit from the election of one candidate or another as are energy, healthcare, materials companies. That means that it is trading on its own merits, and most notably a lackluster earnings report; and a looming tablet war, as I discussed in previous pieces.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Quarterly revenue of $36.0 billion and quarterly net profit of $8.2 billion, or $8.67 per diluted share – record September quarter results – is “lackluster?”

[Thanks to MacDailyNews readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]