{"id":25111,"date":"2015-03-09T08:49:38","date_gmt":"2015-03-09T12:49:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/?p=25111"},"modified":"2017-06-29T15:15:16","modified_gmt":"2017-06-29T19:15:16","slug":"weekly-market-wrap-up-march-9-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/2015\/03\/weekly-market-wrap-up-march-9-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"Weekly Market Wrap Up, March 9, 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"
AT&T and Tech Giant Apple<\/strong><\/p>\n Apple makes headlines as the leader in technology will be replacing AT&T in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), an index comprising 30 of the largest public companies in the US. The change will be effective with the opening of the NYSE on March 19.<\/p>\n To be added to the DJIA, a company must have an excellent reputation, demonstrates sustained growth and is of interest to a large number of investors. Apple is excelling in all these attributes. Apple has a market capitalization of about $736 billion, making it the largest publicly traded company in the world. It also has $178 billion in cash on its balance sheet.<\/p>\n Another factor is that Apple was able to adjust closer to the stock prices at which the companies in the DJIA are currently trading with its stock split back in June 2014. This was important as the more expensive stocks are, on a per-share basis, the larger weighting and impact they have on changes in the index’s price. The amount of shares were multiplied by seven whereas the stock price was divided by seven from $700 to $100.<\/p>\n Visa, another Dow member, has a great impact and influence on the DJIA. Visa is currently the highest weighted member of the DJIA trading at $274 compared to Apple\u2019s $126.41 which is the fifth heaviest traded stock. Visa\u2019s upcoming pursuit of undertaking a 4:1 stock split is another reason for Dow\u2019s change. This means that Visa shares will multiply the amount of shares by four as its price will tumble from about $275 to about $69 per share (one-fourth the price) falling beneath Apple\u2019s share price.<\/p>\n By joining the DJIA, Apple opens the doors for a new class of investors to consider Apple to become part of their portfolio. Furthermore, all Dow members pay dividends, which means for Apple investors a sort of regular cash return in addition to the return through its share price.<\/p>\n