By Troy Wolverton, San Jose Mercury News, Calif. Dec. 27--Shares of Apple hit a new high Wednesday and topped $200 for a stretch -- the first time the surging stock has crossed that particular frontier -- pushing the iPod maker past Cisco to No.

SAN JOSE, Calif. _ Shares of Apple hit a new high Wednesday and topped $200 for a stretch _ the first time the surging stock has crossed that particular frontier _ pushing the iPod maker past Cisco to No. 2 on the list of Silicon Valley's most valuable public companies.