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Last Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average - the benchmark stock index of America's blue chip companies - closed above 14,000 for the first time since the financial meltdown sent the U.S. economy into the worst crisis in decades. The continued resurgence of the U.S. auto industry and growing optimism about the overall economy helped propel the Dow above the psychologically important 14,000 point level. The surging Dow is an indication of the increasing financial health of the largest American companies, a bright spot in an otherwise shaky U.S. economic recovery, particularly with respect to unemployment. America's blue chip firms - including industrial giants, banks, and auto companies - are healthier than they've been in years. But what about the largest U.S. tech companies? Like the other major stock indices, the tech-heavy Nasdaq index is at or near multi-year highs. On Friday alone, the Nasdaq rose 1%, nearly touching the index's five-year high, which it hit last September, driven in part by tech juggernaut Apple, which had just released the iPhone 5. But Wall Street sentiment has soured on Apple in recent months, somewhat tempering the Nasdaq's continued ascent. How high can tech stocks go? Given Apple's size - it's the largest tech company in the world - it makes sense to begin any forward-looking evaluation of the Nasdaq with the Cupertino, Calif.-based cash machine. Apple constitutes about 12% of the Nasdaq's valuation, and there's no question the company's recent stock swoon has placed a drag on the tech-heavy index. Let's take a look at Apple and three other important Nasdaq companies. Two weeks ago, for the third consecutive quarter, Apple fell short of analyst estimates, sending the company's stock down 10% in after-hours trading, wiping out nearly $50 billion in shareholder value. Source: http://business.time.com/2013/02/04/as-the-dow-soars-how-high-can-tech-stocks-go/

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