Here it is mid-March, and Apple is already closing in on my 2018 target of $200. Indeed, with a market capitalization today of $930 billion, Apple is on the verge of becoming the world's first $1 trillion publicly traded company.

And here's the really great thing about this year for Apple bulls. If you had the right cajones you had a chance to load the boat just above $150 only five weeks ago.

If you did, as I begged, pleaded, and beseeched you to do, your Apple trade earned a handy 22.33% at today's $183.50 high.

Now for the good news. The best is yet to come. In fact, there are ten reasons why Apple shares should hit my lofty target sometime this year.

1) Share buy backs are first and foremost. With $280 worth of cash in the bank abroad, and two thirds of that committed to buy back Apple stock, shareholders essentially have a free put option.

Indeed, you could see the company's invisible hand in the marketplace during the recent correction, soaking up shares at every opportunity. We won't learn the true numbers until the next quarterly earnings report on May 1.

2) Valuation is still the overwhelming factor driving institutions into Apple stock. With a price earnings multiple of 18X and a dividend yield of 1.40%, Apple is trading not only at a discount to the main market, but a discount to most of tech as well. No one ever got fired for buying Apple, at least not recently.

3) Apple's sales are as good as ever. The expected draw down in between new phone launches is proving less than expected. All of the channel checks suggesting a bigger drop have proven unfounded.

4) The rest of technology is on fire. Even if Apple were stumbling now, which it isn't, it would get dragged up by the meteoric moves seen in the rest of the FANG's.

5) The administration's nixing of the Broadcom (AVGO) takeover of QUALCOMM (QCOM), protects the principal supply of propriety chips for Apple phone safe from foreign interference. Broadcom could have chopped the research budget or transferred crucial technology to foreign competitors.

6) Apple is broadening its product lines, shifting to a new business model that delivers multiple new phones at the same time. This will include low priced models that will compete in new markets like India, as well as go head to head with the market share leaders, Samsung. This will increase market share and profitability.

7) While Apple possesses only 8% of the global cell phone market, it accounts for a staggering 92% of cell phone profits. Apple effectively has a monopoly on cell phone profits.

8) Their new lease program promises to deliver a faster upgrade cycle that will allow higher premium prices for their products and demand more phones. That will bring larger profits.

9) Apple continues to inexorably move into new products and services. While the company was late with the HomePod to compete against Amazon's (AMZN) Alexa and Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google Home, integration with the rest of the Apple ecosystem will enable the company to have the last laugh. Watch out for Apple Pay. Health care is another big target area.

10) Standards of living are rising worldwide. And guess what the first thing a newly enriched middle class does around the planet? They dump their Samsung Galaxies and Google Androids and join the IPhone club for the enhanced status alone.

I Hear Apple is Diversifying

We have the good fortune to have several options positions left that expire on Friday, March 16 in five trading days and I just want to explain to the newbies how to best maximize their profits.

This involves the:

Currency Shares Euro Trust ETF (FXE) March 16 $120-$123 vertical bear put debit spread

The Facebook (FB) March 16 $155-$165 vertical bull call debit spread

The Facebook (FB) March 16 $190-$195 vertical bear put debit spread

Provided that some we don't have a monster "RISK OFF" move in the market over the next few days (war with North Korea?), which could cause bonds to rally big time, these position should all expire at their maximum profit point below.

Your profit on each position should amount to the following:

(FXE) put spread - $2,000 or 20.00% in 18 trading days
(FB) call spread - $1,800 or 17.64% in 33 trading days
(FB) put spread - $1,266 or 12.35% in 22 trading days

Many of you have already emailed me asking what to do with these winning positions.

The answer is very simple. You take your left hand, grab your right wrist, pull it behind your neck and pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

You don't have to do anything.

Your broker (are they still called that?) will automatically use your long positions to cover your short positions, cancelling out the total holdings.

The profit will be credited to your account on Monday morning March 19, and the margin freed up.

Some firms charge you a modest $10 or $15 fee for performing this service.

If you don't see the cash show up in your account on Monday, get on the blower immediately.

Although the expiration process is now supposed to be fully automated, occasionally mistakes do occur. Better to sort out any confusion before losses ensue.

I don't usually run positions into expiration like this, preferring to take profits two weeks ahead of time, as the risk reward is no longer that favorable.

But we have an excess of cash right now, and I don't see any other great entry points for the moment.

Better to keep the cash working and duck the double commissions. This time being a pig paid off handsomely.

If you want to wimp out and close the position before the expiration, it may be expensive to do so.

Keep in mind that the liquidity in the options market disappears, and the spreads substantially widen, when a security has only hours, or minutes until expiration on Friday. So if you plan to exit, do so well into the final expiration.

This is known in the trade as the "expiration risk."

One way or the other, I'm sure you'll do OK, as long as I am looking over your shoulder, as I will be.

I am going to hang back and wait for good entry points before jumping back in. It's all about getting that "Buy low, sell high" thing going.

I'm looking to cherry pick my new positions going into yearend.

Take your winnings and go out and buy yourself a well-earned dinner. Or use it to pay your upcoming 2017 income tax bill.

It's probably going to be a big one, given how much money you made trading this year.

Well done, and on to the next trade.

I have been pounding the table for years about a global synchronized recovery, and there is no better way to play it than emerging markets (EEM).

That play it not over.

After suffering volatility that was a multiple of what we saw here in the US during the February meltdown, Emerging markets ae getting ready for an upside move.

The fundamental case is there.

During a period of global growth, emerging nations see growth rates that are double or more those seen here in the US and Europe.

Emerging companies tend to be more highly leveraged than western competitors, giving an upside hockey stick effect on profit growth.

And much of the emerging world is tied to commodities, a legacy of the investments made in their countries by former colonial masters during the last century.

Commodity prices usually outperform those of stocks as we approach the tag ends of a prolonged economic cycle because additional supply can't be created with a printing press.

Emerging countries are also getting a strong tailwind from a weak US dollar, as it increasing the purchasing power of their earnings on the world stage.

Companies that financed their debt in US dollars, a common occurrence abroad, effectively see their loans paying themselves off.

With exploding US budget deficits and a ballooning national debt, a continuation of a weak dollar is a sure thing for the foreseeable future.

This has heralded a dramatic improvement in the credit quality of emerging companies.

Even the technical set up is looking attractive on the charts. You see a narrowing triangle formation to the right which should break out to the upside once the growth data comes in.

The is just a continuation of a trend that has been in place for years.

Since they bottomed at the beginning of 2016, the (EEM) has tacked on an impressive 100%. This is in sharp contrast to the S&P 500 (SPY), which has gained by only 63.42% during the same period. Owning technology was the only way you could beat emerging market returns.

China is the mainstay of emerging markets, with far and away the largest weighting in the (EEM). Last week, the government confirmed that it was targeting a 6.5% growth rate for 2018, the same that was achieved last year.

China only accounts for 3% of US steel imports, so the imposition of a punitive 25% tariff will have a minimal impact on the countries growth prospects.

However, don't look and emerging markets as a one-way bet. After a two-year bull run, it happens to be one of the most over owned sectors in the markets.

There are also major elections coming up in several emerging nations, like Brazil and Mexico. A backlash against Trumps nationalist, protectionist, "America First" policies are a sure thing. That would be market negative.

One way to sidestep this is to take a rifle shot at a single country that has no imminent election. India is the hedge fund community's favorite right now, which has the additional attraction that its steel and trade exposure to the US is minimal.

Take a look at the PowerShares India Portfolio ETF (PIN) if you are so inclined.

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Time to Take Another Look at Emerging Markets