Even Tim Cook's harshest critics have been quick to salute the Apple CEO for the leadership he exhibited this week in Washington. Throughout the tax hearing Cook came across as the smartest in the room; his resolve was unshaken and his toughness was even applauded by Senator John McCain. For a guy who has been persecuted by media types since Apple's stock selloff began last September, these glowing reviews are unexpected. Is Tim Cook finally on the verge of a breakout? Perhaps the timing is right for Cook to establish his own legacy as CEO of Apple. Judging by Apple's stock action, this sea change in Tim Cook sentiment appears correlated to three particular dates:

April 23rd: A bolder than expected stock buyback was announced by Cook, a move that set in motion an EPS acceleration for Apple's quarterly earnings. If Apple continues this buyback program over the

Finding the next Steve Jobs can be a lucrative pursuit. Sort of like hunting for diamonds in east Africa or heading west for the gold rush. Tech visionaries are few and far between. Once you find a visionary, you realize that he's more valuable than the current make or model of a specific product. Those fortunate enough to have purchased Apple shares when Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 had no idea that they would benefit from a renaissance of the Mac, the introduction of the iPod, and eventually the game changing influence of the iPhone and iPad. Back then, all they knew was that they had Steve. There is no asset more rare than a visionary at the head. The growth potential is exponential.

At the Yerba Buena Center of the Arts in San Francisco on January 27, 2010, I sat in the center of the auditorium and

Apple's (AAPL) shifting product release cycle has created a high degree of investor uncertainty within the quarterly biased tradition of Wall Street. For a company that attracts more product release hype than any other in the history of planet earth, this shifting product release calendar has caused investors and analysts to be mislead regarding the true state of Apple's financial health. It's a phenomenon unique to Apple because no other company elicits the scope of product release volatility like Apple does. Especially in the most recent upgrade cycle to iPhone 5 in which Apple sold 47.8 million units in the holiday quarter, Apple has demonstrated a one-of-a-kind ability to generate product release hype that remains the envy of all its competition.

Unfortunately for investors, this recent round of hype has not translated into stock returns. The shifting of the product release calendar and its uncertain effect on year over year

This gold slaughter is a good reminder to beware of the momentum trap. Momentum is good if it's built upon strong fundamentals. Momentum is dangerous if it's built upon a house of cards. No matter how badly some investors want gold to be a currency it's not a currency. It only acted as a safe haven because hedge funds said it was a safe haven in the midst of the financial crisis. Monday's market meltdown (Dow -200) is happening because of the $200 2-day gold sell-off that is causing an overall commodity drag that includes the market-moving asset of oil. The direct catalyst for gold's drop is linked to Cyprus being forced to sell reserves in order to finance its bailout; analysts fear other eurozone nations will have to do the same. Now that gold has lost its momentum, when will the drop end? From a historic perspective, gold prices

On March 5th Appleinsider published what we consider to be one of the most important Apple (AAPL) pieces of the year. It reveals that Disney's (DIS) Magic Kingdom in Orlando, FL, has done away with turnstiles at the park's entrance as visitors are now greeted by workers holding iPod touches. This change is part of a larger initiative to create an entirely new payment platform within the resort. Tom Staggs, Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts announced that the company plans to provide customer wrist bands called 'MagicBands' that will act as a visitor's hotel key, pass card, and credit card. Along with the adoption of iPods, Disney is incorporating other elements of iOS that will enable Fastpass ride ticketing, maps, information on ride wait times, and the ability to view menus and book dining reservations. With the implementation of MagicBands, the era of the wallet is

The bears have been in control of Apple since the correction began on September 21st. If their reign is to continue, it's going to occur because of Apple's deteriorating fundamentals because the institutional/fiscal cliff re-balancing that was caused by Apple's strength (74.5% YTD gains as of September 21st) is now over. We're seeing a healthy dose of uncertainty ahead of the January 23rd earnings report in large part because Apple missed earnings estimates last quarter. Aside from the noise of these pre-earnings jitters, the real question is ... how do the fundamentals look?

In 2009 I wrote a piece titled Apple: Seven Reasons the Shorts Love It that explained a few of the reasons behind Apple's slingshot action. The content of that article is especially pertinent when Apple is near the high end of its trading range. Today, from an opposite point of view, I'm tweaking the

The special dividend variable is quickly turning into a significant Wall Street anomaly that will have unintended consequences. Without a precedent it's difficult to forecast exactly what will happen, but we've come up with three likely consequences:

Consequence #1- Those companies who prepay 2013 dividends and beyond will become less attractive to income funds over the next year. This is an unfortunate effect for individual investors who own these stocks in tax deferred accounts because the dividend tax hike has no bearing on them anyway. Costco (COST) is paying a $3 billion dividend which will be completely financed through borrowing. Does that help or hurt individual investors who own Costco in a tax deferred account? The additional debt obviously hurts them. Oracle is paying three quarters worth of dividends in December with its largest shareholder CEO Larry Ellison receiving a one time payout of $198.9 million. It's the insiders who

Since 2009, our observation of the Apple slingshot has been adopted as a defining characteristic of Apple (AAPL) stock action. The term 'Apple slingshot' immediately makes sense to those who realize that institutional buying and selling of Apple stock is a more reliable explanation of its deep selloffs and skyrocket rallies than any particular fundamental strength or weakness. As this slingshot terminology has morphed into mainstream vernacular, we've noticed that some still fail to understand the underlying forces that produce the slingshot action. Let's begin by explaining what the slingshot is not. The Apple slingshot is not a hedge fund conspiracy. It is not caused by any of the negative rationale that you may hear in the media, which includes the underwhelming launch of Apple Maps, the lack of innovation from Tim Cook, iPhone 5 supply constraints, iPad mini cannibalization, Samsung (SSNLF.PK) competitive threats, the earnings miss, and

During Apple's (AAPL) iPad mini event, CEO Tim Cook displayed a informational slide that showed Q2 2012 iPad unit sales exceeded the i (ndividual PC shipments of all vendors including Acer (ASIYF.PK), Dell (DELL), Lenovo (LNVGF.PK) and HP (HPQ). Cook took his iPad vs. PC message a step further on the earnings call when he said, "We continue to be very confident that the tablet market will surpass the PC market...When you look at the size of the PC market, there is an enormous opportunity for Apple there. Pretty much each quarter you see 80 to 90 million PC's being sold. And so we do think that the iPad and the iPad mini and the iPad 2 will all be extremely attractive offerings for people in lieu of PC's."

A new survey by Cowen and Co. reveals that the iPad mini isn't cannibalizing sales of iPad

With both stocks trading near all time highs, the Apple (AAPL) vs. Google (GOOG) debate has become Wall Street's latest obsession. Which stock has a brighter future? Which company will produce the next hit product? Discovering a sense of conviction within the context of this debate can lead to serious wealth creation if one invests correctly. At EconomicTiming.com we've demonstrated what can happen when an investor is in tune with a market leading stock like Apple. That being said, we know there will come a time when Apple's tenure as leader of the pack will end. Has that moment arrived? Is it time to abandon Apple in favor of Google? Let's consider the following five elements:

1- Lines. I'm still waiting to see a line for an Android phone. Apple's ability to initiate global pandemonium is unparalleled. Every Apple store, no matter its geographical location, experienced long lines and shortages

In our opinion, one of the most credible professional Apple analysts is Barclay's Ben Reitzes. This guy meets annually with CEO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer and emerges from these meetings with as close to inside information as you're ever going to get from Apple. On Tuesday, Reitzes released an under the radar report that potentially will evolve into a major stock moving variable over the next two weeks. His research report was shared via AppleInsider with the tagline "Apple's next big thing may be iDevice TV remote, not standalone HDTV". After discussing the prospects of an iPad mini for the last few months, we at Economic Timing also arrived at a similar conclusion that this product is ideally suited as a universal remote to control the living room. When first confronted with this idea, it sounds fairly insignificant to a company of Apple's size but upon further review,

Apple (AAPL) analysts are basically all in agreement that this quarter and next warrant a downgrade when it comes to iPhone sales. The projected iPhone sales slowdown ahead of the iPhone 5 release was mentioned three more times this week, and analysts continue to cite the supply chain as evidence for their conclusions. After reading a number of pessimistic iPhone reports, I think it's time to introduce six mandatory variables for analysts to consider before they release misleading information to the public. Focusing on one sliver of the story while dismissing the rest is irresponsible. It's time to ban alleged Chinese supply chain insight from iPhone forecasts. It was misleading last quarter, the quarter before that, and the quarter before that. The following list contains six mandatory variables that analysts must consider before coming up with an iPhone forecast:

1. Enterprise transition: Since late 2009, Research in Motion (RIMM)

Finding Apple's window of opportunity within the context of a stalled global economy remains the best strategy on Wall Street. In the face of relentless economic opposition over the past five years, Apple has continued to defy the odds by surpassing earnings expectations quarter after quarter. The hot trend among Apple analysts is to reduce iPhone forecasts in the current quarter because of seasonality. The collective reasoning is the same, how can Apple grow iPhone sales in an environment that includes both European weakness and an iPhone 5 launch later this year? Well, in response to these analysts we recommend looking at the numbers.

In terms of headwinds, there was no quarter as bad as the June quarter of last year. Consumers were expecting the iPhone 5 to be announced at the WWDC on June 7th but it was delayed. This unexpected dynamic should have resulted in a terrible earnings

Many have asked our opinion about Microsoft's new iPad competitor, the Surface. Do we finally have a legitimate contender to iPad? Before I answer that question, let's go back to Monday afternoon prior to Microsoft's secretive announcement. We were discussing what we would do if we were in Microsoft's position and decided that they had a real opportunity to beat Apple to the punch with a TV. It seemed logical that the lack of a Mac TV announcement at the WWDC opened the door for Steve Ballmer to one up his rival. Microsoft is actually in a great position to do so because of the success of the Xbox gaming platform that is already thriving in the living room. If they simply leveraged the Xbox technology into a TV format, they would have a legitimate iTV product. Xbox TV has a nice ring to it. Of course none of that

Now that the downside threat of the WWDC keynote is past we can focus on the most exciting time of the year for Apple stock action. The aftermath of widely anticipated events like WWDC has not been good to Apple stock and typically results in a buying opportunity. On this particular occasion Apple dipped $17 from its intraday high on Monday but was able to finish +$5 on Tuesday. Some were disappointed that no iTV or iPad-mini was announced but in all reality the expectations for this event were low in comparison to past events and the stock was already $65 off its 52-week high. The strong action from Tuesday suggests there isn't much pressure to sell at current levels. We took the easy money off the table from the $40 pre-WWDC run up and now have 70% of the portfolio in cash. The big question is...when do we buy

"We try to develop products that seem somehow inevitable. That leave you with the sense that that's the only possible solution that makes sense...What we're working on now feels like the most important and the best work we've done..." Jony Ive

As consumers and investors speculate the potential of an iTV from Apple (AAPL), we at EconomicTiming.com are considering the possibility that this new product is closer than many expect. As I read the above mentioned Telegraph interview with Apple designer Jony Ive, the idea that Apple always manages to arrive where it's supposed to arrive stood out to me.

The detailed reality of an iTV presents numerous inconsistencies within the Apple business model: How could Apple reconcile charging $1500-$2000 for an iTV when the Mac Mini can be purchased for $599 and an iMac can be purchased for $1199? In order to justify such a price point the iTV

We've moved from an Apple hedge fund playground to a market battleground. Heading into the 3-day weekend, there is a serious tug of war between Europe and Apple. Making a European forecast at this stage of the game is enough to make one dizzy. Greece has no official governing body until the June 17th elections and yet European leaders feel urgency to solve the uncertainty at today's EU Summit.

The Dow has sold off 1000 points from 13,300 on May 3rd because of Greece; but when does the Greek threat become over-exaggerated? Are investors going to fret over Greek exit strategies this weekend or will they focus on newfound plans of stimulus from this EU Summit? Should we sell some Apple (AAPL) allocations in order to avoid the potential panic of this weekend? Is the U.S. economy going to stall and end the bull market? These are the important questions

It's time to set the Tim Cook legacy straight. I'll focus my comments in response to the recent critiques of Tim Cook that suggest Cook's Apple will never be able to recapture the magic of the Steve Jobs era. Even Andy Zaky, in his $2000 price target research report, noted that '2014 is the golden age of Apple and the peak growth year. After 2015, growth will stall and Apple will become a mature company-at least for this era'. All those who are forecasting an end to Apple's run of innovation are missing a key point.

Consensus on Wall Street believes that Steve Jobs innovated the iPod/iPhone/iPad trifecta and that he played a role in developing the upcoming interface for iTV therefore as soon as these influenced products mature it will mark the end of Apple's growth story. I strongly disagree. To me, the analysts are too focused

The biggest surprise of the shareholders meeting was the lack of appetite for Apple to sell off. No dividend. No stock split. No buy back. Nobody cares. The stock goes up. The unseen dynamic that no one is talking about is the absence of hedge fund induced selling.

In terms of Apple fundamentals, nothing has changed over the last few years. Apple's future was bright in 2010, it was bright in 2011, it's bright in 2012. The difference today is that we don't have the hedge funds selling the stock in order to buy it back at lower levels for a guaranteed slingshot bounce.

I could make a compelling argument to begin such a selloff today by using the dividend disappointment as an initial catalyst, followed up with analysis that the iPad 3 isn't much of an upgrade. But no such thesis has been able to budge the stock from