Apple and Amazon lead the pack to $1 trillion

New York (AFP) – Apple, at $939 billion, remains the highest-valued private company on the global markets – and could well cross the $1 trillion finish line after it releases its quarterly results Tuesday.

But Amazon is right behind: on Friday, its market cap reached $917 billion, before finishing at $882 billion, thanks to quarterly figures well received by investors.

Google’s parent company Alphabet ($886 billion) and Microsoft ($827 billion) are also on track, while Facebook ($505 billion) is out of the race, having shed $119 billion in value after results released Thursday.

The biggest traditional economic players – billionaire Warren Buffet’s holding company Berkshire-Hathaway ($492 billion) and bank JPMorgan Chase ($395 billion) – have been relegated to mere spectators.

State oil company PetroChina briefly broke the $1 trillion barrier in 2007 during its initial public offering, but has since dropped back down.

According to TDAmeritrade’s mid-year review, online commerce giant Amazon’s stock was the most popular buy in the first half of 2018, with Apple the second most popular sell.

“The retail trader who is buying that stock is also the same person who is probably an Amazon client,” said JJ Kinahan, a chief market strategist for TDAmeritrade.

“They see a stock that has plenty of upside and benefitting from the money people have to spend with the economy and the job market improving,” he added.

Read more...