“From the start of last year through its all-time closing high on Sept. 19, Wilshire Associate says, Apple (AAPL) rose 73.5%, becoming the most valuable stock in the history of capitalism and accounting for an amazing 12% of the return the entire 3,684-stock Wilshire 5000 Index posted during that period,” Allan Sloan writes for Fortune. “Then came the fall, and by this Jan. 24, Apple had dropped 36% from its high. During that decline, calculates S&P’s numbers whiz Howard Silverblatt, Apple’s stock fell by more than the entire market value of Microsoft (MSFT), once the world’s most highly valued company.”

Sloan writes, “What can we retail investors learn from observing these gyrations? That no matter how hot a company seems to be and how limitless its future, some ancient verities of investing still apply.”

3 lessons for Apple shareholders:

• Thou shalt not run with the herd, lest ye be trampled
• Thou shalt not fall in love with a stock
• Thou shalt not believe in the infallibility of a CEO

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: In the words of a MacDailyNews reader’s recent email:

Hindsight is 20/20 and, oh woe is me and whatever shall I do, even after this recent, baseless beatdown, my AAPL shares are only 45-baggers now!

Related articles:
Cody Willard: Apple stock will hit $1,000 sometime in 2014 or 2015 – February 5, 2013
Why Apple stock is likely to stage a dramatic rally within the next 10 weeks – February 5, 2013
Barclays: Cash flow strength, reversal of accruals may help Apple stock – January 30, 2013
Carter Worth: Apple stock is an ‘epic bounce candidate’ – January 28, 2013