Apple’s $1 Trillion Milestone Reflects Rise of Powerful Megacompanies -- NYT

Not lonely at the top; also see Apple Is Worth $1,000,000,000,000. Two Decades Ago, It Was Almost Bankrupt. (NYT)

"Apple’s new 13-figure valuation highlights how a group of enormous companies has come to dominate the United States economy. Today, a smaller cluster of American companies commands a larger share of total corporate profits than since at least the 1970s.
The impact of this phenomenon has been clear in the stock markets, where a band of household-name companies — led by Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google — has fueled the nine-year bull market, the second-longest behind the rally that ended in 2000. Their successes also are propelling the broader economy, which is on track for its fastest growth rate in a decade.
But the effects of the consolidation of corporate profits extend far beyond the stock markets — and they are not entirely benign."

Apple’s $1 Trillion Milestone Reflects Rise of Powerful Megacompanies -- NYT