One other consideration is that, at its current price, Apple is not able to be considered for inclusion in the DJIA since that index is price-weighted and Apple would account for a huge portion of the index.
After the 7-1 split, Apple will be a likely candidate.
Yes -how insane is that. When I first heard of it, I was almost certain that the person was wrong - but 5 minutes on wikipedia proved they were correct.
But, once again - if the automated purchasing for the stock drives the value up too high, then people will make money selling it - I don't buy into the "inclusion in the indexes drives up long term valuation of a company" - would be interested if anybody has a study that shows otherwise.
The most interesting example is Royal Dutch vs. Shell Transport. Both companies had equal shares in Shell Oil - Shell Transport was in the S&P 500, Royal Dutch was not, and sold for much less, despite having identical economic interests - until they finally merged in 2005.
When Yahoo was added to the S&P 500, its price jumped 24%.
The name for this anomaly is usually called the "index effect", and whether it affects valuation is controversial.
After the 7-1 split, Apple will be a likely candidate.
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/04/23/apple-just-...