IPhone 5 madness, Apple and the Dow Jones Industrial Average

First of all I wish I had more than one measly share of Apple. But I have one! (Kathee bought it for me for my birthday). News today that Apple hits it's record high. I suspect it will go higher. There's a link between the news of Apple's record high and the IPhone 5: Apple stops taking iPhone 5 orders after less than 8 hours, suggesting feverish demand.

 Jim Peet and the IPhone: I wish I had one. But I cannot justify it to myself for several reasons: 1.) I don't need it; 2.) I have a dumb flip phone provided by the company and it meets my needs (I'm not a talkative person!); 3.) And I am Mr. Frugal right now.

 My take on the IPhone 5 is that there is no competing device close to touching it. Not RIM (Blackberry)! Not Nokia (Windows 8)! Not an Android device (but close 2nd).

 And my take on Apple is that at $ 700 it is still a reasonably priced stock. Why I don't have more Apple? Elementary: I can't afford it.

 Now the other Apple news is that someone has calculated that the Dow would be above 15,000 if Apple had been added to the Dow in 2009.

 Now the Dow news: UnitedHealth to replace Kraft in Dow 30. Here's the press release:

 Excerpt:

The index change was prompted by Kraft Foods’ plan to spin-off its North American grocery business, to be named Kraft Foods Group, Inc. on Oct. 1, 2012. Following the spin-off, Kraft Foods Inc. will be renamed Mondelez International, Inc. The Dow Jones Averages Index Committee believes that Mondelez’s reduced market capitalization and projected lower percentage of revenue generated from the U.S. makes the company less representative of the U.S. Large Cap market space.

UnitedHealth Group, headquartered in Minnetonka, MN, is a diversified health care services company that provides health care coverage and benefits services to tens of millions of individuals across the U.S., and information and technology-enabled health services.

The Index Committee believes the addition of UnitedHealth Group brings added health care diversification to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and reflects the growing importance of health care spending in the U.S. economy. The changes won’t cause any disruption in the level of the Index. The divisor used to calculate the DJIA from its components’ prices on their respective home exchanges will be changed prior to the opening on September 24. This procedure prevents any distortion in the DJIA’s reflection of the U.S. stock market.

Comment: In my own view the S&P 500 index is a more valuable indicator of the US stock market. It's not often cited but should be. Another valuable index is the Nasdaq Composite. A good way to invest in the NASDAQ is the PowerShares QQQ™. It is formerly known as "QQQ" or the "NASDAQ- 100 Index Tracking Stock®", is an exchange-traded fund based on the Nasdaq-100 Index®. QQQ is a way to buy Apple because Apple makes up 20% of the QQQ. More on the QQQ holdings here:

SPY (also known as SPDR S&P 500 ETF) is the easiest way to invest in the S & P 500.