I’ve been following the Apple Inc. stock (AAPL) more closely from this spring. It immediately became one of my favorite US stocks to follow. Although I’m a very small time investor, I still like to put my money in stocks to outgrow inflation and hopefully make a little on the side.

However, I’ve been looking at the stock today and found out that it is going through a major battering due to the Consumer Reports analysis on the new iPhone4 – where they ended up saying that they can’t recommend the phone due to it’s signal strength issue with the new antenna design. Due to this, Apple lost a few billion dollars from its market cap.

Something that did not go out with the report though is the fact that Consumer Reports still rate the iPhone4 the best smart phone out there (via Digital Daily).

Something that you also can’t find in any reports is the fact that when I looked at ordering a new iPhone unlocked from the UK (no point in buying it from Finland), there’s a three week queue for the device. Now this is a very long wait for something that consumers “according to press” shouldn’t buy. It’s a clear sign that Apple aficionados aren’t caring a single bit about the Consumer Reports article.

On top of this, Apple has reported in June that they have sold 3 million iPads in 80 days. The iPhone4 phenomenon has also been out of this world – on June 24th they reported 1.7 million phones sold in the first three days.

I’m with the aficionados and at 250 dollars a share, before the earnings call, I say it’s a definite buy. Analysts have a target price on the share at 330 dollars – that’s 32% higher where it is today.

ps. I got in at $249.40.