AAPL Cracks the Market

Following last night’s plunge in AAPL shares to our 144.48 target [see: Jan 2 Update on AAPL] the S&P futures plummeted as much as 58 points from Wednesday’s highs. There, the tightly correlated pair went their separate ways.

ES is off only 25 points (1.1%) while AAPL is indicating an 8% loss. Blame the majority of the divergence on VIX, which is undergoing the same kind of operation that rescued stocks yesterday.The other dramatic rescue was in USDJPY, which plunged to levels not seen since the night of the 2016 presidential elections (the yellow arrow.) As occurred then, and in Brexit before it (the other yellow arrow) USDJPY has recovered most of its losses as the opening bell approaches.Can the market shake off this latest crack as it did both of those times? A critical test lies ahead.