At $500 billion, Apple is worth more than Poland

[jeffrey]

Apple's stock market value topped the $500 billion mark in early trading Wednesday, another record high for what was already the world's most valuable company.

The half-trillion dollar valuation puts Apple in some extremely exclusive territory, making it one of the five most-valuable companies at any point in history. Only Microsoft, ExxonMobil, Cisco (CSCO, Fortune 500) and General Electric (GE, Fortune 500) have ever surpassed that mark...

At $500 billion, Apple is worth more than Poland - Feb. 29, 2012

[disneysteve]

I'd take my iPhone, iPad and iMac over Warsaw or Krakow anyday.

[bjl584]

Dividend anyone?

[riverwed070707]

Is there really a market value for a country? How is this determined?

[kv968]

Is there really a market value for a country? How is this determined?

You can "value" a country by it's gross domestic product which is the value of all the goods and services it produces (i.e. Poland's is about $750 Billion and the U.S. is about $15.5 Trillion).

[mom-from-missouri]

This has now started an interesting homeschool project for the kids. They are researching various other companies to see their value.....

[kv968]

This has now started an interesting homeschool project for the kids. They are researching various other companies to see their value.....

That's great to hear. It could be a good learning tool and help build their interest in how economies, finance and investing work.

Next you could work on balance sheets and income and cash flow statements