You Ask, We Analyze: How Apple Stock Looks Heading Into Friday's Session

On Thursday evening, Benzinga asked its followers on Twitter what tickers they wanted reviewed for Friday. From the replies, Benzinga selected one ticker for technical analysis. @freeannajones, and @Artartinvest4 asked for Apple, Inc AAPL to be charted. @Artartinvest noticed unusual volume in the stock at the end of the day.

Apple’s highest volume of the day came in on the 15-minute chart just before the market closed at 3:45 p.m. The volume was bearish although Apple’s price held strong and the stock closed up 0.67%.

During the 5 minutes between 3:49 p.m. and 3:54 p.m. there were four large bearish options trades totaling just over $222,000. The traders chose a strike price of between $120 and $145 and the expiry dates ranged between Friday and Nov. 19.

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The Apple Chart: Apple’s stock reached a Sept. 7 all-time high of $157.26 before declining over 10% lower over the course of nine trading days. The stock then reached a bottom near the $141 mark and bounced up.

The decline paired with the bounce and settled Apple into a bear flag pattern on the daily chart, with the pole created between Sept. 8 and Sept. 20 and the upward flag formed between Sept. 20 and Thursday.

Thursday’s price action caused Apple to regain the eight-day exponential moving average (EMA), which should negate the bar flag pattern, but in Friday’s premarket session, the stock was trading down about 0.85% which is back below the eight-day EMA.

Traders will want to watch for whether Apple is reacting to the bear flag pattern or if the stock has reversed course into an uptrend and is creating a higher low. The volume at the open should help to give direction, with large bearish volume indicating the bear flag may play out and bullish volume indicating a buy-the-dip scenario.

Apple’s stock has support at $144.53 and a key support level lower at $141.37. The stock has resistance above at the eight-day and 21-day EMAs and $147.79 and $150.