AAPL hits record high on tablet rumors

Two years after Apple first broke $200, the stock sets a new all-time record high

"If you can keep a good stock down," wrote Jason Schwarz last week, explaining why hedge funds love Apple (AAPL), "then you are able to load up for the ride back up. It's like a slingshot — the harder you pull, the more propulsion you generate."

As if to illustrate his point, Apple shot to a new intraday high of $209.35 on Thursday, three and half weeks after it was pulled down below $190.

The stock popped following rumors that Apple's long-awaited tablet computer might be unveiled in January. See here.

More broadly, Thursday's intraday high represents a 167% increase from the stock's 2009 low of $78.2 set on Jan. 20, and it comes two years almost to the day after Apple first reached $200 a share.

It's been a bumpy ride.

Apple closed at a record $209.04, up 6.94 points (3.43%) for the day. The Dow, meanwhile, rose 0.51% and the NASDQ 0.71% in a shortened day of trading.

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]