Apple (AAPL) Offering Possible 49.25% Return Over the Next 35 Calendar Days

Apple's most recent trend suggests a bullish bias. One trading opportunity on Apple is a Bull Put Spread using a strike $305.00 short put and a strike $295.00 long put offers a potential 49.25% return on risk over the next 35 calendar days. Maximum profit would be generated if the Bull Put Spread were to expire worthless, which would occur if the stock were above $305.00 by expiration. The full premium credit of $3.30 would be kept by the premium seller. The risk of $6.70 would be incurred if the stock dropped below the $295.00 long put strike price.

The 5-day moving average is moving up which suggests that the short-term momentum for Apple is bullish and the probability of a rise in share price is higher if the stock starts trending.

The 20-day moving average is moving up which suggests that the medium-term momentum for Apple is bullish.

The RSI indicator is at 78.68 level which suggests that the stock is neither overbought nor oversold at this time.

To learn how to execute such a strategy while accounting for risk and reward in the context of smart portfolio management, and see how to trade live with a successful professional trader, view more here

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LATEST NEWS for Apple

Dow Jones Futures: Taiwan Semiconductor Earnings Top, 5G Outlook Bullish For Apple, Chip Sector
Thu, 16 Jan 2020 10:48:09 +0000
Will chips still lead the market rally? Taiwan Semiconductor reported mixed earnings, but 5G guidance was bullish for the chip industry and key customers Apple, AMD and Nvidia.

The $150 Million Machine With $200 Billion at Stake for China
Thu, 16 Jan 2020 10:35:22 +0000
(Bloomberg Opinion) — Huawei Technologies Co. has become very much the U.S.’s whipping boy in the battle to nip China’s technological ascendancy in the bud. President Donald Trump’s administration has slapped sanctions and curbs on the Shenzhen-based company and lobbied allies to do the same. Last month growing resistance against Huawei among lawmakers in Germany’s governing coalition sparked threats of retaliation from the Chinese ambassador. But what’s happening next door in the Netherlands has higher stakes for China. There, Beijing’s envoy this week said there will be negative consequences if the Dutch continue to block the export of a single piece of high-tech manufacturing equipment made by ASML Holding NV. According to Reuters, the U.S. has exerted pressure to prevent the sale to a Chinese firm. But it’s not just any machine. It’s a $150 million state-of-the-art apparatus that could ensure Moore’s Law — which says that processing power doubles every 18 months — continues apace, and the microchips powering our smartphones, computers and networks get ever smaller.Like with Huawei, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited intelligence concerns, though Reuters didn’t specify what they are. The Hague subsequently rescinded an export license it had previously granted for the machine.Any individual nation state cutting Huawei, the world’s largest networking business, out of the supply chain for its 5G networks will of course be a blow to the Chinese firm. But the impact on China as a whole will be limited. Beijing will still be able to build its own next-generation telecommunication networks, and losing a few exports will have a minor effect on the economy as a whole. Huawei’s sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa totaled $31 billion in 2018.A ban on buying machines from ASML is potentially far more significant, because it will hinder China’s ambitious goals to strengthen its super high-tech manufacturing industry.As far as tech giants go, ASML doesn’t have the global brand cachet of an Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. or Amazon.com Inc. That’s partly because its products are two steps removed from the electronic devices that reside in consumers’ pockets, on their desktops or in their living rooms: ASML builds the machines that make the semiconductors that go into their devices. But it’s one of Europe’s biggest three technology companies, and its top customers include chipmakers Intel Corp., Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which is known as TSMC and makes chips for Apple and Huawei alike.The Dutch firm stands out from rivals Nikon Corp. and Canon Inc. because it’s alone in having mastered an approach known as extreme ultraviolet lithography, which is needed for the manufacture of the next generation of chips. Lithography is the process by which circuit patterns are etched onto silicon wafers, and the EUV process will allow the printing of circuits that are more than 10 times smaller than the current standard.QuicktakeHow Chinese Technology Grew to Rival Silicon ValleySo you can see why China would be particularly interested in using ASML’s equipment. Although the country is a hub of electronics manufacturing, much of that is simply assembling iPhones, laptops, smart speakers and the like. The underlying tech is often imported, including some $200 billion-worth of semiconductors each year.Beijing wants to reduce that dependence on imports by investing $150 billion over a decade in an effort to take the lead in technology design and manufacturing. Access to machines made by ASML will be essential to achieving that. By the end of next year, as much as half of TSMC’s revenue will depend at least partly on some EUV processes, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Masahiro Wakasugi. That could be $18 billion worth of chips. TSMC said on Thursday that its deployment of EUV machines was on schedule, advancing at a similar rate to earlier technologies, as it reported earnings that exceeded analyst expectations.While it could take a decade and more than one EUV machine for Chinese firms such as Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. to rival that, that is clearly the long-term goal. (SMIC is reportedly the company that placed the order at the heart of the current spat.)Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad reported last year that ASML was the target of theft by a rival with ties to the Chinese state, though the company later said that any “suggestion that we were somehow victim of a national conspiracy is wrong.” Chief Executive Officer Peter Wennink surely doesn’t want to lose China’s business: It’s ASML’s fastest-growing market.What makes the Dutch move so remarkable is that the U.S. can only unilaterally block sales abroad if components or R&D contributions originating domestically exceed 25% for the relevant product. Here, it seems to have succeeded in leaning on the Dutch government to prevent the sale even though, according to press reports, ASML’s extreme ultraviolet lithography machine doesn’t meet that test. An even greater risk would be that other important suppliers of underlying technology follow suit, whether under U.S. duress or not.(Adds TSMC comment on latest technology in fourth-to-last paragraph.)To contact the author of this story: Alex Webb at awebb25@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Melissa Pozsgay at mpozsgay@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Alex Webb is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Europe's technology, media and communications industries. He previously covered Apple and other technology companies for Bloomberg News in San Francisco.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

Apple Chipmaker TSMC’s Profit Bigger Than Expected
Thu, 16 Jan 2020 09:58:19 +0000
(Bloomberg) — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. projected quarterly revenue well above analysts’ estimates, brushing aside concerns that tighter U.S. sanctions on No. 2 customer Huawei Technologies Co. could dampen its business.Shares in the world’s largest contract chipmaker have slid two straight days on worries that Washington will tighten existing restrictions on exports to Huawei, potentially curtailing shipments from TSMC and other non-American firms. If the U.S. does move ahead, any disruption would be short-term because TSMC could replace some of the lost Huawei business with orders from other customers thanks to the 5G boom, Chairman Mark Liu said during a post-earnings conference with analysts.TSMC has recruited Intel’s former chief lobbyist to gauge the temperature in Washington and lessen any fallout from U.S.-Chinese tensions, including policies involving Huawei.“We are prepared to deal with this export control regulation,” Liu said, adding that if any new controls were introduced, TSMC would carefully “evaluate product by product eligibility of export.”But some analysts judged Liu’s assessment too rosy. TSMC may be over-estimating the ability of other customers to pick up the slack were its Huawei business to be curtailed, Bernstein analyst Mark Li said. “The forecast, according to TSMC, assumes ‘business as usual’. The company sees any disruption will be short-lived and for example commented that smaller telco infrastructure suppliers can quickly pick up the shortfall if Huawei can’t deploy 5G as planned. We find that too optimistic,” Li said.TSMC reported better-than-expected net income of NT$116 billion ($3.9 billion) in the December quarter. Gross margins came in at 50.2%, also exceeding estimates. It forecast revenue of $10.2 billion to $10.3 billion in the March quarter, surpassing estimates for $9.6 billion.Apple Inc.’s main chipmaker is banking that the rollout of fifth-generation enabled smartphones in 2020 will galvanize growth. Semiconductor orders from Huawei account for 10% of its revenue, according to Bloomberg data. TSMC’s robust results demonstrate how the world’s largest contract chipmaker is investing in technology to safeguard its market lead over Samsung Electronics Co. and Intel Corp. TSMC spent almost $15 billion on technology and capacity in 2019 and is prepared to shell out as much as $16 billion this year, anticipating the advent of fifth-generation smartphones. The company, a barometer for the tech industry thanks to its heft and place in the supply chain, has said the advent of 5G will result in more chips in devices than before.Capex growth this year will mainly come from an increase in specialty technology including CMOS sensors — which turn light into digital signals for smartphone cameras — and power management chips, and packaging technology, according to Chief Financial Officer Wendell Huang.TSMC previously reported record fourth-quarter revenue of NT$317.2 billion. Chief Executive Officer C. C. Wei has expressed hopes that the emergence of 5G, the foundation of future technologies from automated factories and smart homes to faster consumer electronics, will underpin its business in coming years.In addition to 5G, TSMC’s counting on growing demand for high-performance computing. Positive comments from Micron Technologies Inc. and Samsung suggest the global semiconductor market is poised for a gradual recovery on the back of demand related to 5G, artificial intelligence and automotive applications.(Updates with details on preparation for Huawei curbs)To contact the reporters on this story: Debby Wu in Taipei at dwu278@bloomberg.net;Gao Yuan in Beijing at ygao199@bloomberg.netTo contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net, Edwin Chan, Colum MurphyFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

The streaming services won’t admit they’re at war—and they might be right
Thu, 16 Jan 2020 09:00:30 +0000
Are the "streaming wars" really happening? If you ask executives, they say there is hardly any competition at all.

What Arnault’s Bromance With Trump Says About U.S.-EU Trade
Thu, 16 Jan 2020 06:30:44 +0000
(Bloomberg Opinion) — The billionaire bromance between Donald Trump and France’s richest man, Bernard Arnault, has surely been one of the more unexpected consequences of the U.S. president’s global trade war. Back in October, Trump lavished praise on the king of luxury — calling him by turns an artist, a great businessman and a gentleman — after LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE opened a handbag factory in Texas. The symbolism was rich, considering Trump had just days earlier removed leather goods from a list of European products worth $7.5 billion that were hit with higher U.S. import tariffs. Trump wasted no time in spelling out the link: “I can’t tax him, because he moved to the United States.”The mood has cooled since then. Leather handbags and luxury items worth $2.4 billion are now back on the U.S. president’s hit list as part of potential tariffs targeting France, which the White House says is discriminating against U.S. firms such as Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. with a new digital-services tax. The U.S. has also threatened more tariffs targeting the European Union related to the long-running dispute over aircraft subsidies between Boeing Co. and Airbus SE. Brussels has dispatched its top trade official this week to try to calm tensions, but there’s every chance the spat could worsen. For a president fighting impeachment and campaigning for re-election, French wines and German cars are tempting political targets.That has put Trump-whisperers like Arnault in an awkward position. While by no means the chief culprit of the EU’s trade surplus with the U.S. that Trump so hates, luxury products sold by LVMH such as wine and spirits are France’s key export sector after aerospace. The U.S. market brings in about 24% of the group’s revenue, almost as much as France and Europe put together. Shrewd re-jigging of the supply chain, and the luxury industry’s ability to pass on price increases to its well-heeled buyers, have so far helped keep the wolf from the door. LVMH’s pledge to create 1,000 jobs in Texas, even if a “Made In the USA” label leads to upturned noses, has made Trump less likely to want to penalize the company with luxury levies. He’s also less likely to oppose Arnault’s proposed $16 billion acquisition of iconic U.S. jeweler Tiffany & Co.It’s not just LVMH: Airbus, one of Trump’s favorite punching bags and the biggest brand in European aerospace, pulled off a similar feat. Its local presence in Alabama has spared the aircraft it produces in the U.S. from the 10% EU tariffs (and likely deterred Trump from pricier duties). Considering France is being singled out for harsher punishment, the fact that Paris-listed LVMH and Airbus are among the top five best-performing euro-area blue-chip stocks since Trump arrived in the White House will comfort French President Emmanuel Macron.But how much longer can moving resources into the U.S. keep delivering results? Airbus is scrambling to continue ramping up production in Alabama, where its investment now totals $1 billion, but that hasn’t been enough to silence the threat of higher tariffs. For the luxury-goods sector, not everything “Made in France” can be “Made in the USA.” LVMH is clever enough to sell locally-made U.S. sparkling wine in funky single-serve bottles, but it will never be the same as champagne. European corporate takeovers of U.S. targets, while rising, are vulnerable to Trump’s unpredictability.Europe’s top multinationals may have also been helped by the fact that Trump’s focus so far has been primarily on China. Being a secondary target hasn’t been too bad for the EU: Tit-for-tat tariffs between China and the U.S. actually saw France get a total export boost to both countries worth an estimated 0.3% of GDP, according to Nomura research. (For Germany it was 0.1%.)It’s clear that exporting high-value items that are difficult to substitute, such as aircraft or luxury goods, is a natural defense against trade wars; Airbus was also helped by Boeing’s troubles. But China may now be receding into Trump’s rear-view mirror following the signing of a phase-one trade deal. If Europe takes its place as Trump’s chief concern, things will be different. While European investment into the U.S. increased by $226.1 billion in 2018, to $3.0 trillion, the U.S. trade deficit with the EU also hit a record that year. Tariffs on German cars — which would be far harder to pass on to consumers than for a bottle of Dom Perignon, or an A320 airplane — remain an ugly prospect, even after an increase in their local U.S. production over the past decade.Europe’s CEOs will be praying the EU can convince the White House that an escalation in tariffs would hurt American jobs, saddle the consumer with higher prices and deter hiring and investment. If that’s not enough, then maybe the next delegation the EU sends should include Arnault and the gift of a few handbags — Made in USA, of course.To contact the author of this story: Lionel Laurent at llaurent2@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Melissa Pozsgay at mpozsgay@bloomberg.netThis column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners.Lionel Laurent is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Brussels. He previously worked at Reuters and Forbes.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com/opinionSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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