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The point about the cash on hand is more than valid. A 1.7% return is a laughter I wouldn't accept that on any of my investments. CD’s pay better than that.

With that much cash on hand, they owe the owners of the company a dividend, or return on their investment. People invest in stocks not only for asset increase but also for a cash return and dividend payment. If Apple has that much cash on hand they are steeling from the owners of the company, the stock holders, by not giving them a dividend

The point about the cash on hand is more than valid. A 1.7% return is a laughter I wouldn't accept that on any of my investments.

Um, have you been paying attention for the last year? A 1.7% investment would be a 40 percentage point improvement on what my 401(k) has yielded the last 12 months.

People invest in stocks not only for asset increase but also for a cash return and dividend payment.

If people bought Apple stocks for a dividend, those people weren't paying attention. Apple last paid a dividend in 1995. Having all that money liquid puts Apple in a great position; they could by Best Buy outright and have 6 billion left over, or buy 80% of Dell, if that would gain them anything. If so inclined, they could do that without stock swaps or shopping around for credit.