I chose Google, Apple, Microsoft, and IBM.  While all of these companies have done pretty well in the last 5 years, what really struck me was just how much Apple has been able to gain in this term.  5 years ago you could get a share of apple for around $44.  Now, nearly 450% later, it would cost you $232 to own 1 share.  While Apple doesn’t pay any dividends (neither does Google…booo to those companies), if you would have purchased some shares 5 years ago you’d have done well for yourself averaging roughly 41% gain every year!