Apple 80% Increase In Marketable Securities

Apple (AAPL) announced results and got the market very excited. They cannot keep up with demand. How many businesses can say that? Their chief guru Steve Jobs goes in for liver transplant and the machine keeps rolling along.

But lets take a look at the balance sheet.

Cash and equivalents are down in the past nine months from $11.8 Billion to $5.6 Billion. At the same time marketable securities are up dramatically from $10.2 Billion to $ 18.6 Billion. When you cast an eye on the sources and uses of cash you will see a very active asset category.

Just two questions

1. Why is Apple even doing this?
2. Given the market melt down we can use more transparency on the Marketable Securities Category.