Apple $1 trillion? Here’s the plunge that followed the first company to get there

Be careful what you wish for.

Apple AAPL, +5.36%  , much to the joy of shareholders and fanboys everywhere, could soon become the first U.S. company to reach a valuation of $1 trillion. A nice earnings beat and a 5% push for the stock on Wednesday could give Apple the back-stretch boost it needs to beat Amazon AMZN, +0.89%  to that lofty level.

Globally, however, the 13-figure mark was apparently breached more than a decade ago, when PetroChina 0857, -2.00% enjoyed a face-melting debut in Shanghai. But the celebration didn’t last long, as you can see by this chart.

Bloomberg calculated that the collapse, which it says is “the biggest stock slump in world history,” cost shareholders about $800 billion, thanks to government attempts to limit the kind of speculation that led to that initial surge.

Of course, similarities with Apple pretty much begin and end with that $1 trillion valuation, although PetroChina’s implosion in Shanghai is a reminder of the brutal and finicky nature of the stock market.

At last check, Apple was dancing around in record territory with a 5% gain to $200 a share, just a few bucks short of that $1-trillion mark.