Apple, Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) was trading mostly flat on Friday, in line with the SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE:SPY), which was consolidating Thursday’s afternoon sell-off with an inside bar pattern on the daily chart.
On Thursday, the tech giant said it is working to issue updates to its AirTag tracking software to stop users misusing the technology to track or spy on people and that it was working with law enforcement on AirTag-related requests. AirTags were developed to help people locate their own missing property but have reportedly been used to commit crimes.
There seems to be an ongoing issue with Apple’s products being used for various purposes without permission because on Feb. 8, ZDNET reported Apple had recorded the voices of a percentage of its 1.5 billion iPhone and iPad users without their consent.
Apple said a bug was discovered in iOS2 15 that enabled the company to record the voices some users who had opted out when asked whether they would agree to improve Siri and dictation by allowing Apple to review recordings of their voice interactions.
IOS 15 was released in September 2021 and when Apple released its 15.2 update in December the bug was fixed. Yet iPhone and iPad users may be left wondering why they were not told about the privacy violation. Apple responded to ZDNET to say it has stopped reviewing the recordings and is working to erase them.
The news did not affect the price of Apple’s stock, which has been trading in a tight range between about $171 and $177 for the last nine trading days but if the bearish pattern the stock may be settling into plays out, Apple could be in for another downturn.
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The Apple Chart: On Jan. 18, Apple completed a bearish head-and-shoulder pattern on its daily chart that Benzinga called out on that date. On Jan. 19, the stock reacted bearishly to the pattern and fell about 9% lower to the $154 mark over the four trading days that followed. The stock has since bounced back up over the $170 level, partly due to a bullish reaction to its earnings print on Jan. 27.
- Apple may be setting into another bearish head-and-shoulder pattern, with the left shoulder created between Jan. 31 and Feb. 4, the head formed between Feb. 7 and Feb. 11 and the right shoulder possibly forming over the next few days.
- Bearish traders can watch to see if Apple trades up higher into an arching formation and holds above the ascending neckline of the pattern to see if the pattern plays out.
- If the pattern becomes completed and is recognized, the measured move is about 2.6%, which indicates Apple could trade down toward the $166 level again.
- Bullish traders can focus on Apple’s confirmed uptrend. As long as the stock doesn’t fall below $170.68, the uptrend will remain intact.
- Apple has resistance above at $174.33 and $177.71 and support below at $171.03 and $167.88.
