Well we have many forces at play here.
on one hand I speculate that die hard apple cultists (sarcasm)are on a war path to push apple to $1,000+ a share ; at some point.
If for nothing else, purely for bragging rights. I.e. we beat Google etc etc..
On the other hand ; you have this lackluster announced dividend (imo a 1.6-1.7% dividend is not a sign that the company is confident in the current stock price going forward) which will act as downward pressure in some regards even though to some it will cause them to want to push APPLE higher.
You also have an announced share buy back plan ; which can help to cause prices to rise, possibly, when announced
HOWEVER
I would infer that Apple does not want to pay $600+ a share for its own stock.
I would also infer that there are many people out there that feel like they "missed the invite" and want in and will try to push apple's price down as well to make a more "attractive" entry point for themselves/their buddies.
I would suspect to see apple shares possibly sell off, how much will remain to be seen, and then possibly a secondary push higher.
This secondary push will consist of
1. Earnings / news reports
2. new product releases ; iphone5, a new push in Apple TV and Apple university / books as well as new products.
3. the announcement of new products / technologies / companies through process of accqusition that will add to Apple's portfolio. (i.e. Siri, which Apple touts, was not invented by Apple but purely purchased by them). Expect to see them to exercise some of this idle capital.
4. A dividend increase possibly
I would suspect that apple will sell off till the dividend and stock price reach an "equilibrium" and form a new base.
From there it remains to be seen.
And if I'm wrong, oh well. I would much rather sell my shares, pocket a fat profit then to risk watching your gains erode as fast as they appeared.
So what if you sell and it goes up some more and you miss an additional 10-30-50% profit, yea you might not like that however you would be disgusted if things went the other way and you lost 10-20-50+%
You can always buy back into APPLE at lower prices and significantly lower your risk, i.e. take advantage of options versus the actual stock
Just my .02 though, everyone has that now a days though
watch apple hit $777 in 3 weeks LOL
