[AndyParkinson]

The problem is the very, very skilled hedge fund and institutional investors that are capable of moving a stock to stratospheric heights are judged on their performance on a month-to-month basis. The price action and patterns and trading Gods have lead them to believe that in the short-term AAPL is not going to go up very quickly (until it does, more on that later.)

Apple has essentially been going sideways for the last 6-7 months. While this makes Apple a bad trade, it doesn't mean Apple is bad investment. Zaky is saying that in 3 years Apple will be worth significantly more and thats hard to argue with. Those that have argued seemed to be completely out of touch with the company and focused on silly things like "Apple is not spending money on R&D because R&D expense dropping if taken as a percentage of revenue."

Speculators and traders aim to buy high and sell higher. Lots of money is sitting on the sidelines waiting for Apple to reach a new all-time high on above average volume before they pounce. Apple hasn't made a new high since February. I suspect these "very, very skilled" traders and speculators will jump back on board if and when Apple blows past $365.

If AAPL goes sideways for months at a time for months at a time, as it is apt to do, then these "skilled" pros take their money and put it in more exciting places until the stock comes back to life again.

Note that this "buy high/sell higher" is the exact opposite approach of long-term-minded Graham/Buffett value investors. While the stock is going through these periods of consolidation, it makes for a perfect time for long-term, individual investors to buy a piece of a great company at a ridiculously cheap price and not have to think about their money more than a few times a year for a very long time.