AAPL Sauce: Steve’s Fine
by John Paczkowski
Posted on December 30, 2008 at 11:36 AM PT
If ever Steve or the board of directors decided that he was no longer capable of doing his job as CEO of Apple, I’m sure they will let you know.”
– An Apple spokesperson
Three days of gains gone in just two minutes. That’s what happened to Apple shares today after Gizmodo published a rumor suggesting Steve Jobs’s declining health is the real reason he won’t deliver the keynote at Macworld 2009. Apple (AAPL) hasn’t yet commented on the report, nor has anyone who could reasonably verify it. And they almost certainly won’t; Apple’s longstanding company line has always been “Steve’s health is a private matter.” And those close enough to Jobs to comment on such rumors with any degree of authority surely won’t for fear that Jobs would brain them with the nearest Mac Pro.
But CNBC’s Jim Goldman–who earlier this month reported that Jobs’s decision to skip the Macworld keynote had nothing to do with his health–is calling BS on the Gizmodo report. “I spoke to Apple after these headlines crossed and the company, which officially doesn’t comment on rumors, reiterated the reasons it offered two weeks ago: Apple was pulling out of Macworld because the company didn’t see the need to continue its investment in the expo, which included Steve Jobs’s keynote. I was told this morning (Tuesday) that nothing has changed since then. The same reasons apply today that applied two weeks ago. I was told two weeks ago by sources inside Apple that the decision had nothing to do with Jobs’s health. I got the same message today. Period.”
Which makes you wonder about the motives of these “previously reliable sources.” There’s sometimes a very fine line between solid sources and stock manipulators looking to make a quick profit. With little in the way of news this week, the Macworld keynote issue still fresh in our minds and Jobs’s health an obvious shareholder concern, a rumor like this one seems a little too perfectly timed, doesn’t it?
Comments
The manipulation of Apple stock based on rumors and other factors has gotten to the point of being ridiculous. I wrote a letter to the SEC today about this, and also mentioned that they need to bring back the uptick rule. Here is the page listing SEC contact information. I urge everyone who cares about Apple and is sick of this blatant manipulation to write the SEC personally. The more people they hear from, the more likely they are to do something:
http://www.sec.gov/contact/mailboxes.htm#complain
Posted by Ernest Stalnaker at December 30th, 2008 at 11:47 amgizmodo is a hype site…it has nothing to say so it invents stories
bottom line: don’t read gizmodo, it’s not to be trusted
as for macworld, steve doesn’t need it as a stage anymore know that the world’s his stage
Posted by Sam Harrison at December 30th, 2008 at 2:30 pm