8 ETFs With Huge Exposure to Apple

The following commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet's guest contributor program, which is separate from the company's news coverage.

NEW YORK (ETF Expert) -- In spite of significant corrective activity in U.S. stock assets and in spite of bears clawing away at a number of foreign stock assets, the most popular company on the planet remains unharmed. In fact, shares of Apple (AAPL) hit a new all-time high on Sept. 20, 2011.

Everyone is "gaga" for Apple stock. That includes you, me... even the guy who takes my clothes at the dry cleaners. The only question is whether or not the universal love for Apple will result in a single-stock bubble. (Maybe when it hits $500 per share, but I don't think we've arrived just yet.)

Many ETF investors get their Apple fix through PowerShares NASDAQ 100 (QQQ). The "Qs" are a popular tool for those who want to maintain an "i-focus," while still gaining access to fast-rising growth machines.

In a world where more than 100 ETFs claim a piece of Apple's pie, one can structure his/her love affair from as much exposure (17.5% via iShares DJ Technology) to as little exposure (0.25% in Rydex Equal Weight S&P 500) as one requires. I suspect, though, that institutional money managers are hedging toward a higher weighting.

For instance, volume for the SPDR S&P 500 Trust (SPY) was below average on Sept. 20. And yet, one institutional investor (or a few institutional investors) snapped up $350 million of iShares Russell 1000 Large Cap Growth (IWF) on 5x the normal trading volume. The voluminous activity increased IWF's assets under management by nearly 3%.

An isolated incident? Perhaps.

Yet recent semiconductor stock gains as well as new highs in Apple shares tell me that riders have already boarded the Q4 tech train. (Tech has a long history of relative outperformance in Q4). What's more, IWF has a 6% weighting in Apple; that's a bit more juice than the 3.5% represented in SPY.

Below you will find eight other ETFs with more than a 5% weighting in the almighty Apple. For a bit of perspective, you may want to read my Apple commentary from March, 2010. Find out just how much more influential Apple is today than 18 months earlier!

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