Apple (AAPL) continues its flirtation with the $600 level this morning on more bullish news in the form of a dividend announcement and stock buyback program.  Add to that the robust iPad sales & strong technical action and you have the recipe for a surge above the $600 level.  With a test and fail at that level last Thursday and again this morning, it appears the stock may just need to rest for awhile before that happens.

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This morning Apple announced it was putting its hoard of cash to work with a dividend payout of $2.65/share beginning July 1st of this year.  The company will also implement a $10 billion dollar stock buyback program beginning in September which will last three years.  News of buyback programs are almost always bullish for a stock and that alone may be enough to keep the stock at lofty levels.

As for the latest iPad, sales have far exceeded expectations.  Some of the reviews I read were ho-hum and there were questions about whether people would shell out the cash for the next gen iPad.  Those questions have been answered as iPad demand continues to be record breaking.  Tim Cook said this morning that the company saw record sales over the weekend although exact numbers weren’t provided.

While AAPL stock still looks very strong up here and there is no reason to believe it can’t go higher, there is just so much positive news already built in and there is resistance at that $600 level.  It’s probably best to wait and see how that resistance plays out.  The new support level is at $550.  A return to that level offers an attractive entry.