Endangered species on Wall Street: The stock split

The U.S. stock market has more than tripled in value since its March 2009 lows but stock splits, a tool favored by company management in prior boom times, have yet to make a comeback. Stock splits are a way for management teams to tempt retail investors to buy a "hot" stock at a lower price. For example, high-flying Apple Inc shares proved much more popular at $100 each after a 7-for-1 split in June 2014 than they were at $700, even though their value, by all measures, remained constant.