U. of Phoenix (in the guise of its parent company, Apollo Group) will replace WorldCom in the S&P 500 index tonight. See S&P 500/Changes -2: Lack Of Representation For US Airways. The S&P 500 change will make index fund managers sell their WorldCom stock and replace it with shares of the Apollo Group.
The Apollo Group (Nasdaq APOL) closed today at 37.56, up .91 (2.48%) on a strong day for the market generally. This is near its 52-week high of 39.42, and impressively above its 52-week low of 20.33. APOL seems to have been one of the best performing stocks on Nasdaq during the recent very troubled period. I also notice that the University of Phoenix Online trades separately as UOPX. But can APOL keep up the momentum? Is their market getting saturated, or have they barely begun to tap it? I saw where Worldcom was being traded today on volume that broke every record in Nasdaq history. That's probably related, but I don't know which way the causation runs.
Re: Re: U. of Phoenix makes the S&P 500 They don't compete like traditional companies. Who would be there their compitition? In other words, who would have a greater share of market?
Re: Re: U. of Phoenix makes the S&P 500 UOPX was created apart from the rest of Apolo Group to raise funding for expansion of the On-Line business. The Apollo gave the faculty the option of buying into UOPX in its stock option plan for faculty. We faculty who had more than a year of service with Apollo could desigante any part of our contract wages to buy UOPX. It's been a rocky ride for some given the 52 week price variance. I have no idea how much Apollo saved in faculty wages on the offer. I doubt they would have made the offer had they not expected considerable savings. Regards, Dick
An interesting side note - UOPX doesn't actually conduct any educational activities. It is a tracking stock in that it is entitled to a percentage of the operating profits or losses of the University of Phoenix's online operations. Had the actual online educational operation been spun-off, it would have started life as an unaccredited institution and ineligible for Title IV funds.
