Piper Jaffray estimates that Apple is on pace to announce a quadruple increase in sales of the iPhone during the fiscal fourth quarter.

They spent 25 hours (over a period of two weeks) observing sales of the iPhone at the Apple Stores. The conculsion of this time caused them to increase their estimates to 4.47 million compared to the 1.12 million seen last year in Q4. Piper Jaffray estimates that Apple sells an average of 95 iPhone 3Gs per day at each of its 188 US Apple retail stores. Last year’s estimate was 21 phones per day. They also comment that the 2,200 AT&T stores sell an average of 5 phones per day.

“We believe that our revision may be conservative and that Apple will meet our estimates,” he wrote. “The August 22nd launch in additional countries should provide another catalyst to sales.”

Week 33 of 2008 trading displayed a huge rally for Apple stock! Examine the following year-to-date performance.

Apple	NASDAQ	S&P 500	Dow Jones
-9.47%	-6.0%	-10.4%	-10.9%

Now, compare that performance to the AppleOption Portfolios!

AppleOption Short-Term Portfolio (STP)
      Started the January 2008 with $10,000
      Current portfolio value $6,734.41 (after commission/fees)
      Year-to-Date Loss -32.6%

AppleOption Long-Term Portfolio (LTP)
      Started the January 2008 with $25,000
      Current portfolio value $19,044.47 (after commission/fees)
      Year-to-Date Loss -23.8%

AppleOption Auto-Trade Portfolio (ATP)
      Minimum Allocation: $1,500 per trade or max of 12.5% of account value
      Minimum Account Value: $12,000 provides 8 allocations
      Average Percentage Gain for Total Capital Risked: 2.7%
      Performance since Inception: 68.4% Winning Trades (13 wins / 19 trades)
      Number of Open Trades: 0

** Members can view all current portfolio holdings by viewing the Members-Only Page then selecting the Account View: Current Portfolio.

If you are not yet a member of AppleOption, sign-up today and discover how we trade. We’ll teach you by showing all of our portfolio trades in real-time. Join AppleOption Now!
 

Weekly Review of Portfolio Trades
     

AppleOption Auto Trade Portfolio

All along we knew we would see a pull back in Apple this week! Friday’s sell off at the end of the day was picture perfect. Unfortunately, the ATP placed bets on the fall earlier in the week and our positions stopped out for losses. Three positions were closed this week. The portfolio holds a 68% winning trade average and has gained 2.7% on the capital at risk.

Interested in trading the ATP? For more information please refer to the AppleOption Auto-Trade Portfolio (ATP) page.

AppleOption Short-Term Portfolio

Simply an amazing run! Apple climbed $28 from $152 to $180 or 18% in 8 trading days! Our portfolio was positioned to have maximum return at $168. Unfortunately, Apple’s run ended up costing the portfolio. We did have one butterfly fall perfectly into a maximum profit zone at $175 on Friday.

AppleOption Long-Term Portfolio

The LTP was the least harmed by this impressive run. On Friday, we placed the following option expiration trade and are now sitting in a fantastic September position.

 
Technical Apple Review
     
  

      
The Moving Average Indicators help traders identify an appropriate position that follows the current short or long term trend.

Key Reference Points:
5-MA: $175.90
20-MA: $177.06
50-MA: $170.90
200-MA: $164.03
1st Resistance: $187.8 - double
2nd Resistance:
1st Support: $169.9 - single
2nd Support: $161.5 - triple

     
Up-Coming Earning Reports:

Apple will announce Quarter 4 earnings on Wednesday October 22.

View which other companies releasing earnings next week

Monday, Aug 18th
    - Lowe’s - LOW

Tuesday, Aug 19th
    - Home Depot - HD Hewlett-Packard HPQ
    - Hewlett-Packard - HPQ

Wednesday, Aug 21st
    - Gymboree - GYMB

Thursday, Aug 22nd
    - Barnes & Noble - BKS
    - Gamestop - GME
    - DryShips - DRYS

Friday, Aug 23rd
    - China Sunergy - CSUN