What a difference three months makes (AAPL market cap)...

[Unspeaked]

There was a Page One story on Apple passing Google in market share back in August. You can see the thread here.

Just for kicks, I redid the numbers a month later to show how Apple had fallen behind some of the other companies.

Well, I redid it again today - nearly three months after the original post - and man, is it painful to look at!

- Microsoft (MSFT) - $255,648,204,000
September: $247b
Now: $185b
Loss Since August: $70billion

- IBM (IBM) - $169,964,678,000
September: $159b
Now: $115b
Loss Since August: $54billion

- Apple (AAPL) - $157,012,662,240
September: $133b
Now: $88b
Loss Since August: $69billion

- Google (GOOG) - $156,392,862,560
September: $135b
Now: $104b
Loss Since August: $52billion

- Cisco (CSCO) - $142,125,692,160
September: $134b
Now: $100b
Loss Since August: $42billion

- Intel (INTC) - $135,658,860,000
September: $112b
Now: $77b
Loss Since August: $58billion

- Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) - $111,866,423,760
September: $116b
Now: $82b
Loss Since August: $30billion

- Nokia (NOK) - $97,746,699,520
September: $76b
Now: $54b
Loss Since August: $43billion

- Research In Motion (RIMM) - $71,143,935,000
September: $61b
Now: $27b
Loss Since August: $44billion !!!

- Disney (DIS) - $59,257,501,500
September: $61b
Now: $43b
Loss Since August: $16billion

- Dell (DELL) - $50,483,256,060
September: $37b
Now: $23b
Loss Since August: $27billion

 

[rdowns]

Fugly! I didn't even open my statements (401K, investment acct.) when they came this quarter.

 

[InvalidUserID]

Fugly! I didn't even open my statements (401K, investment acct.) when they came this quarter.

Me either. I don't have to open the statements to know that they've dropped.

With full retirement age more than 35 years away, I know I'll see a lot of volatility in my lifetime.

 

[FrankieTDouglas]

RIMM is the big shocker there. That 44 billion hurts them more than it would hurt anyone else on there.

 

[sammich]

Wow, RIM must be really feeling it now.

Also, adding percentage change would be make it easier to see what overall impact that loss would have.

 

[Michael CM1]

The only three outright stocks I own right now are Microsoft, Ford, and GM. I owned Delta until it went bankrupt. WHO'S THE MAN?

Don't worry, I didn't even spend $500 total on all of that. Don't think I even topped $300. My bad news is where our 401(k) was forced to go. A lot of it went into our company's stock. It was hovering around $6/share when I started in, and now it's about 2 or 3 cents/share. I think my net loss for the year was 40%.

Luckily, I have been putting a little money into a money market account. It was making 4 percent, but now it's a little under 2. I'm just glad I'm 30 and not relying on this money in about 2 years to retire upon. WOOOOOOOOOOO. Now I totally understand all of that "diversify your portfolio" stuff.

I do plan on trying to spend some money around this holiday to help juice the economy. I've already bought some oceanfront property in Arizona and made a donation to the campaign of some Nigerian prince. Any other good suggestions?

 

[JNB]

What loss? It's not like actual money went missing here. Market cap reduction is merely a potential loss, if all that stock were actually sold today vs the starting measurement. And that loss would be borne solely by the individuals holding the shares, not the companies those shares were in, if they bought and sold at those two arbitrary points in time. If I were to sell Apple shares today based on the price I bought them at, I'd show a very significant profit, not a loss.

Market cap is a wholly imaginary number, functionally and practically useless for anything other than a relative valuation compared to other companies, and then only at the moment of measurement. It's really more of a collective perception of the worth of a firm, expressed in dollars & cents, but not a legitimate cash value or anything near it.

 

[mysterytramp]

What loss? It's not like actual money went missing here.

I haven't done the math, but my 401(k) is starting to show such negative numbers that, yes, I'm losing MY money, not mythical paper. Four years ago, I changed jobs and rolled over my 401(k) to the new company's plan. I've been adding since along with my employer match. I've had about 5 percent growth during those four years, and since the start of this year, I'm down 40+ percent. So yes, these are real losses.

I used to think retirement would be in 15 years. Now it looks like 20 or 25. The only bright news is, that the longer this lasts, the longer my new 401(k) contributions are buying cheap stock, so when the rebound hits, the total climbs even higher. (Why is the phraise, "whistling past the graveyard" stuck in my head all of a sudden?)

mt