Pre-Market

AAPL currently trading at $75.10 from a close of $76.98 due to a downgrade.
Citigroup downgrades Apple (AAPL 76.98) to Hold from Buy based on valuation and saying recent checks suggest that Apple is unlikely to introduce a new video iPod before the holiday season...

Also noted in Barron's this weekend:

Barron's reports there is still room for Apple (AAPL) shares to run up a bit more before Christmas. While they won't know for certain until quarterly results are posted on Oct. 18, it looks like late-summer computer sales were very solid, says hardware analyst Charlie Wolf of Needham & Co. "Based on what I've been hearing, my estimate of Mac shipments is most likely low for September," Wolf tells Barron's. That forecast called for 1.5 mln Macs to be sold in the September quarter, versus 1.2 mln in the corresponding 2005 period. Their bullish call was based largely on the promise of robust sales for revamped Macintosh desktops and notebooks, which have been priced more competitively than ever and now can easily run Windows, as well as Apple's own operating systems, owing to the co's pragmatic switch to Intel (INTC) processors. Wolf's thesis is that the ability to directly use Windows will boost the switch rate to Macs from Windows-based PCs. Previously, he had assumed that the switch rate wouldn't jump until the new Leopard operating system (OS 10.5) was shipped, together with a commercial version of Boot Camp (the software that allows Windows to run on non-Intel-powered Macs), which now seems unlikely until 1H07. However, "Apple has already begun to market the Mac's dual-operating-system capability, even though Boot Camp is still in beta tests," says Wolf, who has a target price of 90 on the stock. Mac sales -- especially of notebooks used by students -- appear to have been robust in the quarter ended in September. Apple promoted MacBook sales by throwing free iPods into the deal. Ironically, the recent success of the MacBook probably has more to do with the price cuts and the machines' appealing design than with the ability to run Windows. Once Boot Camp arrives, however, Mac sales will gain even more momentum, Wolf asserts. (courtesey of Briefing.com)