Apple after the bell for 05-08-06: Call it a push

Apple traded strongly in the pre-market and moved as high as 73.38 or more than 2% higher before 10AM during the regular session on the positive Apple vs. Apple news. The stock dribbled gradually lower for the rest of the morning and throughout the afternoon and gave back all of the early gains to close flat. So call it a push with some mild disappointment at gains lost.

Currently, in the after hours, AAPL is getting whipped around a bit on a halted stock and what appears to be some very negative earnings and guidance news coming from Dell Computer. It would seem to me that any significant weakness on the heels of bad Dell news would provide an entry opportunity as the businesses are actually very different despite operating in the same space. In fact, to some extent, Dell's losses should be Apple's gains.

In addition to the Dell news, Apple shares will likely respond during tomorrow's session to reactions to the new MacBook release. If the hype machine can crank it up just right and if the reaction from gadgeteers and Apple heads is positive, the stock will likely pop over the short term. That said, I would also not be surprised to see traders fade the pop in a repeat performance of today's action. Apple shares have moved from 65 to 72 in just a couple of weeks and could use a bit of a rest (or consolidation) before the attempted run towards the January high.

Update: Dell has re-opened for trading and is getting hit on heavy volume to the tune of a five percent decline. It is mentioning pricing pressure at the retail level which is likely the cause for the after hours sell off in Apple as investors generalize the news across players. As of 4:34PM, Apple trades off .40 from the close.