Entry Strategy For Technology ETF Enthusiasts

On October 8, I served up the question, “Will Apple (AAPL) Nibble Away At Your ETF Portfolio?” At that time, the i-Everything producer had dropped -9% from its $702.10 closing price, while iShares DJ Technology (IYW) had slipped -4.3%.

Then came an inauspicious earnings report. Later, an executive shake-up gave investors indigestion. And by the close of business on Friday, November 2, the mighty Apple (AAPL) found itself down -17.8%.

And that’s not all. For the first time in nearly 12 months, the price of one share of the largest company in the world by market capitalization had fallen below its long-term, 200-day moving average.


Put another way, the last time the exceptionally popular device maker breached its 200-day, shares traded at $365. Raise your hand if you wished you had been confident enough to take a bigger bite… anyone?! After all, a 92.3% unrealized gain in less than a year is not too shabby.

At roughly $575, it may be a stretch to project AAPL hitting $1105 by next November. Then again, scores of analysts have already gone on record with the $1000 per share call by year-end 2013.

In other words, it may not be entirely crazy to show some love. (You know you wish you had on the previous go-around.)

Keep in mind, AAPL fell -16% in the May-June gloom of this year. That correction turned out to be a fairly decent opportunity for traders. What’s more, if you’re looking for a healthy helping, you could look to iShares DJ Technology (IYW) with its 24% weighting in the corporation.

Granted, IYW is close to correction levels itself, having plummeted -9.8% since September. It has also breached the 200-day trendline.

Nevertheless, you can choose to buy the dips on a fund that holds mega-brands like Oracle (ORCL) International Business Machines (IBM) and Google (GOOG). Simply employ a stop-limit loss order to protect against the possibility that the pullback in tech morphs into a bear market mauling.


Disclosure: Gary Gordon, MS, CFP is the president of Pacific Park Financial, Inc., a Registered Investment Adviser with the SEC. Gary Gordon, Pacific Park Financial, Inc, and/or its clients may hold positions in the ETFs, mutual funds, and/or any investment asset mentioned above. The commentary does not constitute individualized investment advice. The opinions offered herein are not personalized recommendations to buy, sell or hold securities. At times, issuers of exchange-traded products compensate Pacific Park Financial, Inc. or its subsidiaries for advertising at the ETF Expert web site. ETF Expert content is created independently of any advertising relationships.