It's not impossible though that was my point. Saying "it could never happen" in theory is false especially if MS' market cap drops (which is entirely possible). 

It shows that it's possible if you presume a ridiculously low premium, and you ignore the fact that Microsoft has 102 billion in cash and cash equivalent as well, and you pretend like Apple could just turn 170 billion in longterm marketable securities (read: government bonds) into hard cash just like that, and that there is no such thing as tax for repatriation of money, and a bunch of other things that do not reflect reailty. So no, it's not possible.

I never said right this moment today it's possible, but it's possible if MS' market cap drops, which is entirely possible given that PCs continue to decline every year. 

People on this board don't understand how huge Apple has gotten, they just assume they're making "pretty good money". No Apple was making "pretty good money" like 10 years ago. Where they are today is miles beyond that, they are in another stratosphere that basically no free market company has gotten to ever without government assistance. 

Right, and Microsoft could buy Apple if their market cap drops which is entirely possible because iphones are at the cusp of worldwide decline, and Microsoft keeps making money and has more substantial investments in growth areas (ie. cloud) than Apple. Right?

No. Both are impossible and stupid scenarios.

Doubtful, Apple today is simply a bigger and more profitable company than Microsoft ever has been. 

But Microsoft has more room for growth. While both Microsoft's and Apple's bread 'n butter are at a decline, Microsoft has made much more moves to position itself to anticipate this decline, Apple hasn't.

Besides, my point was both scenarios were stupid and impossible. It seems like you missed that part.

"Impossible" is a loaded word. 

Apple is so big today that they could in theory make a plausible bid for any almost company in the S&P 500. 

The fact is they wouldn't want to because quite frankly there's a reason why they're making more money than anyone else, why spend a ton of your assets on a corporate entity that quite frankly isn't anywhere near as profitable as you are? 

People have been saying Apple is in decline for like 5 years now, yet they just posted their most profitable quarter in history and I believe the 2nd most profitable quarter in financial history period (Fannie Mae is no.1 but that's inflated by a shit ton of government cash). 

Thanks!

Apple stock peaked around May of 2015, and it is now at about the same level as July of 2014.  Even though iPhone sales are great, sales of the Apple Watch and iPads are below expectations.  Apple is also predicting that revenue from the next quarter would decrease when compared to last year, which would be the first year-over-year revenue decline for Apple in the last thirteen years.  I don't think anyone is saying that they're going out of business anytime soon, but it's quite possible that they have peaked.

Mind you, there are analysts saying that they may double in the next few years, so who knows...

'War chest' not procurement fund