Apple: As good as it gets

If we allowed for subtitles on articles, I'd have tagged this one "Waaah! Why isn't my Apple (NAS: AAPL) stock at $1,000?? Everyone said it was a blowout quarter! All the people on CNBC said it was going to $1,500. Waaah!" Yes, I know, that would be a really long subtitle.

Kidding aside, and given how strong the most recent quarter's numbers were, it's fair to wonder why the stock is going down and not up. First the stock drops from $644 all the way down to $555 the day of earnings, and then it climbs up to $618, and then it falls right back to Friday's close of $565. None of it makes sense, right? The stock is so cheap, trading at just 11.5 times next year's earnings, right?