Apple Keeps Its Shine

Editor's Note: Jon D. Markman writes a weekly column for CNBC on MSN Money that is republished here on TheStreet.com.

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Even as world markets renewed their high-volatility rout this week, real business went on as usual. And for tens of thousands of companies without exposure to subprime lenders or low-end consumers, business is still very good.

A genuine leader in this regard at the moment is Apple(AAPL), which is on track to emerge later this year as the single most influential, life-changing and powerful company in the technology and consumer electronics universe. In a few years, it could even become the most valuable.

The latest step in Apple's amazing transformation from industry doormat to kingpin will come in the next 30 days, as investors and consumers come to recognize a set of powerful catalysts that have the potential to kick Apple's sales and earnings to levels that will shock skeptics and possibly even surprise optimists.

Apple shares, now trading around $90 after doubling from 2004 levels, could very well double again by 2010, putting the company in the very highest tier of global industrial titans. If you have ever kicked yourself for not buying Apple four years ago when you bought your first iPod, you should go for it now during this market weakness.

Apples and Carats

To be sure, this idea sounds almost crazy for those who remember Apple as an also-ran perennially tripped up by maddening manufacturing mistakes in the 1990s. But it's not a freak accident of nature, like the seemingly arbitrary process of geologic pressure that can turn organic matter either into a lump of coal or a diamond.