1Wave 1 (2003–2007): iPod boom, early iPhone adoption. Stock rises from ~$1 to ~$25 — a 25-bagger, but at the time Apple was still considered a tech underdog. Classic Wave-1 signal: strong performance, but broad skepticism.
2Wave 2 (2007–2009): Financial crisis. Decline from ~$25 to ~$10 — about 60% retracement, sharp and fast (zigzag). Main rule 1 satisfied: Wave 2 does not fall below the Wave-1 start (~$1).
3Wave 3 (2009–2012): iPad launch + iPhone globalization + China market. Rally from ~$10 to ~$100 — a 10× move. Wave 3 is massively extended, about 375% of Wave-1 length. The toggle button shows the 5 sub-waves within Wave 3.
4Wave 4 (2012–2013): Margin concerns, China competition pressure. Consolidation from ~$100 to ~$55 — about 45% retracement. Does not overlap the Wave-1 high (~$25) — main rule 3 satisfied.
5Wave 5 (2013–Oct 2018): Services business + buybacks + iPhone premium pricing. Rally from ~$55 to $233. Classic Wave-5 characteristic: longer in calendar duration than Wave 3, but with smaller percentage gain. In October 2018 RSI divergence on the monthly chart — followed by a sharp correction in Q4 2018.
💡 Lesson from AAPL: This is a textbook example of an extended Wave 3. Anyone who recognized the wave structure in 2009 and entered a Wave-3 long setup had a 10× over three years. Stop-loss at ~$9 (just below the Wave-2 low), target 161.8% of Wave 1 → ~$50. Actually reached: $100. Pure asymmetry.