Apple Tech Leads Sector & Overall Market Higher

Apple Tech – Stocks Rally Again On Thursday

It’s wrong to suggest the correction isn’t almost over as the market has been up every day this week, following a week where it was down every day.

The S&P 500 is less than 10 points away from its all-time closing high. It’s now up 9 basis points in September which is rare as this is the worst month of the year.

Because stocks didn’t continue their correction, the market is overbought again as the CNN Fear and Greed indicator is at 72 out of 100. That’s a bearish signal which is why I remain bearish on the near term even though I have been wrong.

Kroger was the biggest loser on the day in the S&P 500 as it fell 9.9% on weak same-store sales growth. EPS actually beat estimates by 3 cents, coming in at 41 cents.

Total sales were up only 1% to $27.9 billion which missed estimates by $100 million. Same-store sales growth was 1.6% instead of 1.9%. The biggest worry for shareholders is how the company will compete with Amazon which owns Whole Foods.

Apple Tech – Leads The Market Higher

The Nasdaq was up 0.75% and the tech sector within the S&P 500 was up 1.17%. Even with that rally, Facebook stock fell 0.4%. I think it’s a steal at these prices.

That being said, it could challenge the low in March which was $152.22. The Russell 2000 fell 8 basis points and the VIX decreased 5.86% to 12.37.

Apple stock was up 2.42% to $226.41 which is less than 2 points away from its record high. While I wouldn’t chase the stock, I understand why it is up.

Consumers will flock to the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max which means Apple’s average selling price will increase further. I have a healthy skepticism for how long Apple can keep raising prices, but it has worked so far.

The Apple Watch isn’t the next iPhone, but it doesn’t need to be if Apple will keep raising prices to grow earnings. Skyworks Solutions stock was up 3.37% on the back of optimism about Apple since it sells components to Apple.