Friday, October 03, 2008

Apple stock plummets on false Jobs rumour

Is somebody trying to manipulate the market?

A CNN iReport blog post claimed Steve Jobs had a heart attack. The stock dropped precipitously to $94.65 before rebounding, as it proved to be completely false.

One wonders if it's some overzealous investor out there who has shorted AAPL or wanted to buy in cheap. Whether it's illegal rumour mongering or honest mistake, there are going to be a lot of mad investors, as I'm sure many had (stop-loss) sell orders just below the $100 mark.

[Update 2008-10-03]

AAPL closed down 3% to $97.07, the first close below $100 in over a year. So perhaps the rumour mongering did not make that much difference anyway in the greater scheme of things. It would seem that although the bailout bill was finally passed by Congress, investors still weren't much impressed, and the market slid in general. Nonetheless, the US Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the false report about Steve Jobs.

Besides the close below $100, this marks another milestone for AAPL. The stock has lost more than half its value for the year. I'm going to hold of course, but may just have to buy some more if it drops even further to below $90.

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