Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) just reported unbelievably good earnings in an unbelievably bad economy. Fiscal fourth quarter results were up 46% compared to the same quarter last year. Investors liked what they saw and pushed the stock over $200 a share in after market trading. How can Apple deliver great earnings while almost everyone else is struggling?

Investors can learn a lot from studying Apple and applying it to all their stocks. While it is a high tech company, it has attributes that all great companies share. Here are some of them.

A look at the lives of the Forbes 400 implies that the most important attribute is the ability to sift through ambiguity. Contradictions abound, meaning that shades of gray hold the answer to your burning desire for riches. Should you go to a great school? Well, yes ... but only if you're going for an MBA and plan to work for a major financial firm. But, you can still go to an Ivy League school if you're not studying finance but join Skull and Bones. Of course, dropping out of Harvard can be a great way to launch a career in the technology field.

It's tricky. There are no easy answers. But, the road to billions is littered with the corpses of aspiring magnates who thought it wouldn't be difficult. So, don't just read the seven attributes after the jump. Understand them. Read them twice. Then, your future financial situation will be assured.

Or, you can just do one of those chain e-mails and wish for wealth.

[Thanks, Forbes and MSNBC]

Apple (NYSE: AAPL) is recently trading up $2.94 to $146.68 in pre-open trading. The WSJ reported Steve Jobs is ready to return to AAPL helm. Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2009 will be held on June 8-12 in San Francisco. AAPL June and July option implied volatility of 40 is below its 26-week average of 54, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

NASDAQ 100 (NASDAQ: QQQQ) overall implied volatility at 28; 26-week average is 35.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

The daily biscuits. With the June deadline for Steve Job's reappearance as Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO coming on fast, speculation in the media has begun to build that Jobs will choose to retire. That would be a horrifically bad thing for Apple shareholders, who have done very well of late. Sentiment on Apple is holding strong, so at least some people don't think Steve is bowing out.

"They're delving into a sensitive area that's very uncommon," Lisa Casey , an associate professor of securities law at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana told Bloomberg. "Health is that last little area of privacy," she said.

Poor Steve Jobs! He recently asked a Bloomberg reporter: "Why don't you guys leave me alone?" In addition to having some vague health problems which require him to take a leave of absence from his position as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO, Apple's disclosure about Jobs's health is now under review by the SEC. Unfortunately for Jobs, the SEC cannot treat the CEO of a public company the same as it might an actress, such as Greta Garbo, who famously said, " I want to be left alone."

To bring any case, the SEC would probably have to show Apple tried to benefit by withholding information about an unambiguous diagnosis. In other words, it looks like there may be some legal wiggle room for Apple in the way they communicated Jobs' health challenges.

But after months of rumors, a few weeks ago Jobs said he would remain CEO while seeking a "relatively simple" treatment for a hormonal imbalance. Nine days later, Jobs said he would take a five-month medical leave after learning his health issues were "more complex."

Meanwhile, Apple is scheduled to report earnings after the market closes this afternoon.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the securities mentioned.