Apple's value sets record Associated Press Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Published 8:00 p.m., Monday, August 20, 2012 After a four-month dip, Apple's stock has hit new highs recently because of optimism around what is believed to be the impending launch of the iPhone 5, and possibly a smaller, cheaper iPad. The comparison with Microsoft does not take inflation into account. Scott Sutherland at Wedbush Morgan noted that some investors sold Apple shares last summer, when iPhone sales slowed down as consumers started holding off for the new model. Analysts also are speculating - based on rumors - that Apple plans to make a TV set to complete its suite of consumer electronics products. China's largest oil company, PetroChina, could lay claim to having hit a market capitalization even higher than Apple's, because of the particularities of the Chinese stock market. PetroChina was briefly worth $1 trillion after it listed on the Shanghai stock exchange in 2007, but only based on its price on that exchange, which is isolated from the rest of the financial world because of Chinese laws on foreign investment.