With reports that iPhones are sold out of all three New York Apple stores, and Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney believing that Apple has placed an order for 10 million 3G iPhones, Apple’s stock price climbed another $3.66 today to $144.64. I’ve been keeping a close eye on AAPL and would love to have purchased some additional shares of the stock after it bottomed out in late February at $119. But given the recent volatility of the stock, I figured I should probably just sit tight.

I personally don’t buy the rumors of new OLED displays, but this could indeed be the time when the 3G version of the iPhone finally takes center stage, right before WWDC and the launch of the iPhone App store. The iPhone is definitely poised to fill the increasing hole left by slowing iPod sales, and so the App store couldn’t be timed better. The more I think about the sheer number of software possibilities for developers in relation to the iPhone, the more my inner Mac boy grins from ear to ear. Neither RIM, nor Windows Mobile or any of the other cell carriers have anything that even approaches the reach of the soon-to-be application store. Apple is about to make installing new software on your cell phone as easy as buying songs on iTunes. If I was a mobile competitor, I’d be pissing my pants and buying AAPL like there was no tomorrow.

Will AAPL return to the $200 a share price it held just a few months ago? Of course. I suspect how long the rebound takes depends on seemingly unrelated factors like the price of oil, the weakness of the dollar and the continuing problems in the housing market. All these things have depressed the stock artificially, which in the end is probably a good thing. It gives average investors a chance to jump in low and enjoy a (hopefully) slow and steady climb back up. Despite the recent plunge in price, I think this is a good time to own stock in Apple Computer. Retail stores are buzzing, thousands of developers are working away on cool new iPhone software and if we know Steve, there are bound to be a few surprises thrown in for good measure. Go AAPL, go!