Ahhh, that's more like it... not only is the overall stock market rising from its ashes (and who doesn't love a good comeback story?), but Apple's stock in particular also pulled off a particularly memorable turnaround. Good ol' AAPL rose a solid twelve points throughout Monday's trading session, finally closing at nearly 124. Evidently the panic is starting to subside, as investors are remembering that this whole hiccup was sparked by a governmental ruling against Microsoft-- and they're realizing just how little that ruling means. Sure, it makes for some hearty "Redmond Justice" drama, but it's just a TV show, people. Let's face it; in a knock-down, drag-out, back-alley knife fight between Microsoft and the government, we'd lay our money on the geeks instead of the bureaucrats every time. Think of it this way: does Microsoft rely on the government's software to function? Ha. Give us fifty on Redmond to get the last laugh. Heck, if worse comes to worst, Gates could just buy the country and declare himself emperor.

That said, could there be a better time for the markets to recover and for investors to recognize Mighty Bill's nigh-invulnerability? Not from Apple's perspective, we bet. Because the magic conference call is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, and a cautiously-bullish market looking to recover some of the paper losses incurred over the past two weeks might see AAPL as the bargain of a lifetime, assuming Apple's numbers are any good. And is there any reason to doubt that Apple had another Street-beating profitable quarter? Nuh-uh-- especially since the company even issued one of those fabulous "Media Alerts" to remind everyone that the conference call is being webcast via QuickTime 4. We doubt Apple would be so vocal if the news is anything but good. So make sure you tune in at 2PM Pacific on Wednesday to hear just how well Apple did-- and then ponder what'll happen to AAPL when the markets open on Thursday.

By the way, we'd be remiss if we neglected to remind you that if you still haven't entered the Q2/2000 Beat The Analysts contest, your time is running out. You've got until three hours before the conference call, and if you haven't registered your guess by then, you'll be out of luck. Everybody knows that a guest appearance on AtAT is the one sure-fire path to fame and fortune. Just ask... well, any of the other people who ever won BTA whose names we don't happen to recall right now. So get prognosticating.