Even at that price it's something of a bargain, with a below-market price-to-earnings multiple of 14.15 and a yield of 2.18%. According to the annual list of the Fortune 500, Apple is by far America's biggest tech company. It's more than two times bigger than IBM ( IBM ), bigger than GM itself, and is far-and-away the most profitable name on the board, bringing $1 of every $4 in sales to the net income line. During 2013, a lot of analysts fretted that Apple was losing its edge in the tablet market. A November survey from Changewave shows 72% of tablet buyers this Christmas intend to buy iPads. That's up from 55% in the summer survey. Ho-ho-ho! While there remain naysayers on Apple, you won't find many on our staff. As Rocco Pendola told us in September, the negative media on Apple was false. He was right. Under CEO Tim Cook, Apple is about as transparent as Alan Greenspan's Federal Reserve. It doesn't respond to rumors. It doesn't respond to competitors. It acts and makes competitors respond to it.