Share price

Apple sets a new intraday high

Passes the $426.70 mark it hit briefly one day in mid-October

This should be a good day to watch Apple (AAPL). It finished Friday with a record close of $422.40 and within minutes of Monday' opening bell had surpassed its all-time intraday high of $426.70.

Apple hits a record-high close with over 2 weeks to spare

The slingshot ride in advance of the company's quarterly earnings report has begun early

"If you can keep a good stock down 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." Jason Schwarz' Apple: Seven Reasons Shorts Love It.

I'm reminded of Jason Schwarz' 2009 quote every time I see a chart like the one at MORE

Battle of the market caps: Exxon beat Apple by $30B

Exxon Mobil finished 2011 where it started: As the world's most valuable company

It was nip and tuck for more than three months, from that day in early August, when Apple (AAPL) first overtook Exxon Mobil (XOM), to mid November, when Exxon finally pulled away.

At one point in late September, Apple's market cap (share price times number of outstanding shares) was nearly $36 billion more than Exxon's.

But though Apple's shares ended the MORE

Apple went from its 8th highest close to its 19th in one day

Even for a stock as volatile as Apple, Wednesday was a weird one

According to Terry Gregory, who keeps track of such things at AAPLInvestors.net, Apple (AAPL) was set to register its 8th highest close of all time -- $408.25 -- Wednesday before the selling started. By 4 p.m., it had fallen to $402.64 a share, its 19th highest close.

Gregory's one-word comment on Investor Village's AAPL Sanity board: "Ugh."

Subscribers to the theory of MORE

Apple's lead over Exxon Mobil swells to $35.87 billion

Apple (AAPL) got clobbered Thursday, losing $10.32 (2.5%) to close at $401.82. But it got clobbered less than the rest of the market. Exxon Mobil (XOM), in particular, fell 3.79%.

Bottom line: Apple, whose market capitalization trailed Exxon's by $50 billion three months ago, and which first overtook Exxon six weeks later, is now the world's most valuable public company by $35.87 billion.

The Jobs effect: Apple again overtakes Exxon Mobil

When the market closed, it was once more the world's most valuable public company

When analysts warned that the greatest risk to Apple's (AAPL) share price was Steve Jobs, they assumed that when he stepped down the stock would fall.

So much for that theory.

If the market action Thursday was ambiguous (the stock fell a bit, but less than the major indices), the message Friday was not. Apple rose $9.86 (2.64%) to close MORE

Apple re-overtakes Exxon Mobil

The computer maker is once again the world's most valuable company

As the Dow Jones industrial average plunged another 500-plus points Wednesday, Exxon Mobil (XOM) plunged more than Apple (AAPL) and once again gave up its long-held spot as the No. 1 public company in the world in terms of market capitalization.

When the closing bell rang, Apple closed on top for the first time. The tale of the tape looked like MORE

Why isn't Apple AAAA?

Bank of America's market cap hit $70 billion Monday. Apple could buy it with cash.

In the wake of Standard & Poor's downgrade of U.S. government securities -- from AAA to AA+ -- Apple's (AAPL) shares are getting pummeled along with the rest of the market.

But after the subprime mortgage debacle and the debt ceiling circus, it's worth remembering that this is a company whose profits last quarter grew 125% year MORE

Is Apple undervalued at $404?

Now that the stock has finally broken through the $400 barrier, how high can it go?

Last summer, when Apple (AAPL) was trading for $260 a share, we ran an item on some analytical work by Nicholae Mihalache, a Romanian mathematician who teaches at the University of Paris. He had prepared a series of charts tracking Apple's performance using various criteria, from the familiar P/E (price to earnings) ratio to the more MORE

Whose ox Apple has gored

When you look at the market caps of its competitors, the picture is pretty clear

UBS's Maynard Um posted two interesting charts in a note to clients Monday.

The first compares the growth in Apple's value since 2007 with its chief competitors in the PC and handset businesses.

Apple's (AAPL) market capitalization (calculated by multiplying its share price by the number of shares outstanding) now stands at $327 billion, making it the world's MORE