No stock ever moves straight up or down but since 2001, Apple has moved up most of the time. Down moves have been relatively brief and lasted three months or less. Since February, the stock has been in a downtrend and it’s now the longest downtrend in the stock since 2001.

In the past, Apple has fallen more than the 14 percent drop seen in the past five months but it has always rallied quickly. This is the longest time period without a 10 percent rally in the stock in fourteen years.

As Apple moved higher over the years, it has grown to become the largest publicly traded company. As the largest stock, Apple has an outsized influence on the S&P 500 and other major market averages. Mathematically, it will be difficult for the averages to reach new highs unless Apple turns up.

A bull market without the world’s largest stock is difficult, but not impossible. The S&P 500 has managed to set new highs since February despite Apple’s weakness.

While a quick turnaround is unlikely, a crash in the world’s largest stock is also unlikely to occur. Large selloffs occur when companies surprise the market. Apple is followed by 41 different Wall Street firms. The chance of a large surprise from the company is fairly small.

While Apple can keep the market from roaring ahead, major indexes can move higher even without Apple. At least for now they can. If Apple falls much further, we could see the averages follow.