A Wild Ride

Since its high of $705 reached in early September, Apple's share price has fallen nearly 40%. (Sometimes percentages don't resonate, so look at it this way: if you owned a hundred shares, you have lost the value of an average new sedan in a scant 4 ½ months) I won't bother to link to the hundreds of articles--new ones are posted every hour--that run the gamut from Apple-is-permanently-broken to great-buying-opportunity. Some scattered comments:

Despite its recent share price collapse--including another 12% today--AAPL at $450 is $4 above its price of a year ago (see graph).

The psychology regarding losses is completely different, depending on one's entry point. Your humble observer has invested in too many losers than he cares to remember: frustration, regrets, anger....negative emotions come to the fore when prices plummet after a purchase. But if he's just giving back some gains, then it's easy to be complacent. Both emotional states need to be fought in order not to compound one's mistakes.

The $10.60 annual dividend won't be in jeopardy for the foreseeable future given Apple's $137 billion cash balance, and annual earnings per share of $45, even if they don't grow, comfortably support a $450 share price. I would probably buy some shares if I didn't own them already, so in my case it's a HOLD.