Apple Inc and the Race to $1 Trillion
One by one, milestones are melting in the face of the bull market’s fiery flight. But such is commonplace when asset prices mushroom to unseen heights. If record readings give you vertigo, it’s time to reframe your perspective because as I’ve mentioned previously, all-time highs are normal.
We find ourselves in the midst of a three-way horse race. Only this is a contest not for the Triple Crown, but for one of far, far more value. Consider it the $1 Trillion Market-Cap Crown. The three competitors are Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet. The meteoric rise in recent years has lifted the trio ever so close to an unheard of $1 Trillion value. Currently, Apple holds a substantial $100 Billion lead. With a market capitalization of $932 billion, the creator of all i-Things sits a scant 8% from one mind-boggling milestone.
Perhaps nothing is more apropos of our historic bull market than its creation of the planet’s first trillion dollar company. It is the achievement to trump all achievements.
Rest assured the media will be capitalizing on the final lap of this race in the days and weeks ahead. Expect countdown trackers to multiply as the marketing boosters go into overdrive and news outlets exploit the momentous event. Headlines sporting “World’s first Trillion Dollar Company!” are big-league eyeball grabbers. You know you’d click on that crap faster than I can say Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.
If Apple reaches the fantastical land of one trillion, bears and bubble callers will identify the accomplishment as definitive evidence of exuberance, arguing that this is the latest of many signs suggesting the end is nigh.
If there’s one thing to learn from this market-cap madness, it’s this:
The stock market is the ultimate wealth builder
Sure it’s volatile and outright bi-polar at times. And, sure, it’s spooky and haunted by bloodthirsty bear markets. But for the diligent, patient investor it is one of the most effective ways to grow your money over time, Period. Full Stop.
Now, lest you think the journey to $1 Trillion has been a leisurely ride, let it be noted that Apple Inc has suffered many crashes along the way. Just look at the history of AAPL bears:
Holding fast when 33% to 83% of your investment goes up in smoke requires intestinal fortitude of the highest order. Further, for every Apple, Amazon, and Alphabet that have gone on to eat the world, there are hundreds, nay, thousands of promising hopefuls that are now eating dirt in a graveyard somewhere.
