Apple's total share value pushed beyond the totemic $500 billion mark it reached two weeks ago to hit a heady $542 billion in trading this morning. That made the iPad seller worth more than the entire American Retail Sector, as defined by the Standard & Poor's survey of the top 500 American retailers.

Graph via ZeroHedge

Apple shares were selling at $586 apiece at time of writing. The bump clearly came from the retail launch of the third iPad today, but does highlight Apple's reliance on just two products: the iPad and the iPhone. ®

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