Apple Shares Inch Up In Advance of iPad Launch

Apple's (AAPL) charismatic founder and CEO Steve Jobs is far from being a man of few words when it comes to discussing Apple's latest gadgets on stage. Just ask the cult-like crowds at Macworld.

But off stage, Jobs apparently values brevity if one scans through this PCWorld post that provides a cheeky glimpse of what appears to be one-word responses to customers from "the Man" himself (perhaps this is a new corporate trend, see how an email from Salesforce.com CEO took DailyFinance's Alex Salkever by surprise).

Wall Street and industry watchers wonder how the company can be so tight-lipped in locking down information prior to a hot product release. Nonetheless, some analysts have apparently gleaned enough information to make them comfortable in raising Apple's projected second quarter earnings in the past 30 days. Analysts bumped the mean up a penny to $2.36 a share from its level a month ago, according to Thomson Reuters.

The movement in the earnings projections -- three increases and two decreases in the past month -- comes in advance of Apple's highly anticipated launch of its iPad on April 3. But investors should note that Apple's quarter closes on March 31, leaving the benefit of any iPad sales to the following quarter.

And where does Apple stock sit with all of this? It touched on a new 52-week high today of $230.97 a share.