AAPL pushes S&P Index

Apple's iPod helped the company's and contributed 3.7 points to the S&P 500 index--more than any other stock, according to The Financial Times. The report notes that the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 30 blue-chip stocks was effectively flat for the year, up only 13 points at 10,796. "Google, the dominant internet search engine, gained 120 percent. But the truly perceptive would have seen the potential to profit from the twin trends of America’s obesity epidemic and the rise of the internet. NutriSystem, a company offering diets and prepared food over the internet, was up 1,547 per cent for the year at one point, before a year-end profit-taking left it with a gain of 1,233 per cent. Its market capitalization now stands at $1.25B, and with a day to go before the end of trading for the year, it seemed virtually certain to be the year’s best performing share on the Nasdaq stock exchange."

by MacNN Staff