Filed under: Apple Financial, Steve Jobs
Investigators: No evidence that poster of Jobs heart attack rumor profited
According to the San Jose Mercury News, no evidence has been found to support the claim that a teenager who posted a rumor online saying Steve Jobs has suffered a heart attack tried to profit from the lower stock price.
One person involved in the investigation (who declined to be identified because it's still ongoing) said the agency hasn't unearthed any trading records that show the teen benefited from the drop.
The SEC and Apple officially declined to comment. An SEC manipulation case would depend on the teenager's intentions, according to the Merc.
The initial report, posted to CNN's iReport website on October 3, was publicized Silicon Alley Insider, prompting nervous investors to sell their AAPL shares. That day, the stock fell by 5.4 percent, but recovered to close down by three percent.
Update: My apologies: I misread the lead. Entirely my fault.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
franktempest said 12:15PM on 10-24-2008
WOW TUAW.. The San Jose Mercury News? This is strike 2 since I've started reading. First one was the Apple/Psystar ADR news where your headline said they had "Struck a deal" and now this? Tried to profit?
That's still unknown... You need to be careful with your headlines. This is ridiculous.
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Robert Palmer said 12:43PM on 10-24-2008
Your ire is rightfully directed at me: I misread the lead and summarized the whole thing incorrectly. Sorry about that. I fixed the story and the headline.
arn said 12:23PM on 10-24-2008
yeah, this is a misleading title
from the linked article
"investigators haven't found evidence he tried to profit from driving down the stock"
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Steven Spiegel said 12:35PM on 10-24-2008
The main issue IS: Did the irresponsible act of this teenager cause the sudden decline of Apple's stock price which caused people to lose a substantial amount of money? Should the teenager face prosecution?
I think, YES!
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bhavesh said 4:27PM on 10-25-2008
that is some dumb Nancy Grace logic you have going on there. Prosecution for exercising a basic constitutional right? People should be smart enough not to react to unverified news. But I guess we live in a holier than thou, blame-someone-else, shame-on-you-not-on-me society. Let's make everyone afraid of being human.
I'll probably have to pay your psychiatric bills for the counseling you'll need since I hurt your feelings, I'm sure. It's my fault since I wrote this.
sunkid said 12:36PM on 10-24-2008
Your headline and the link text you use are not supported by the article as pointed out by others. Please fix!
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Bill Ferguson said 2:11PM on 10-24-2008
The guy who apparently profited was probably the "corrupt" Merrill Lynch officer.
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Johnny said 2:14PM on 10-24-2008
Robert,
You mean to tell me that the writers or TUAW are human and able to make mistakes? Well, I'm going to stop reading this blog until there are robots writing the articles in perfect form with dynamic text that appeals directly to the person reading it so that I am never bothered with having to choose wether or not I wish to read (or believe) the post. Gosh. ;-)
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Robert Palmer said 2:15PM on 10-24-2008
That gave me a chuckle. Thanks, Johnny. :)
Johnny said 2:16PM on 10-24-2008
I meant 'the writers OF TUAW'.
Geez. You can't even make the comment system know what I meant to type? I'm out of here. lol.
GadgetGav said 3:49PM on 10-24-2008
"why not apply to blog for TUAW? Here's what we need from you:
3 sample posts written in TUAW's style."
Do all three need to be completely bass ackwards or just a subset??
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Josh said 8:43PM on 10-24-2008
Ok, I'm a regular TUAW reader, I HAVE to say something. They may not have released any names yet, but I'm the one that posted the story. You guys here at tuaw with access to the proper info can confirm that by seeing that the email I'm currently using is the same one I sent the original tip with. I'd just like to say that I'm getting sick of people that judge this situation without actually knowing anything about it. I read all these blogs with people commenting, saying things like I should be prosecuted. How exactly can you say that unless you know all the circumstances? If you'd like the gist of what happened, I made the same mistake that Silicon Alley Insider made: I didn't verify the authenticity of the story before I posted it to iReports. At the time of posting, I believed it to be true, as it came from a source I've talked with numerous times, who has always given me reliable information regarding Apple, things that hadn't even appeared on TUAW or other Apple-oriented blogs yet, but always ended up being true, I had NO reason to doubt what I was told. The entire story is a bit too long for me to post here, so anyone with questions, ask away. I'm more than happy to answer, I have nothing to hide. This was not done with any intention of hurting OR helping anyone, financially or otherwise. I have nothing but the highest respect for Steve Jobs, and Apple as a whole. And BTW, this isn't a joke, this is really me. I may not be back till later, but I'll answer questions when I do.
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Josh said 8:52PM on 10-24-2008
NVM, it posted using my regular tuaw profile (different email address) :-\ but it IS me.
Alex said 4:06AM on 10-25-2008
Well whoever you are, posting information about some secret product development is one thing, spreading the rumor that Apple's CEO died is something else. I think it is not unfair to punish you for that as REAL money was burned because of your misbehavior. I don't want to argue about if it's right or wrong that everyone so much connects Apple's future with Steve Jobs' health but that's the situation. Relying on an unidentified source doesn't protect you from liability, at least in Germany it doesn't.
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Bhavesh said 8:40AM on 10-25-2008
In America, we have the right to free speech and he has the right to say what he wants. You have the right to believe or not to believe him.
In regards to the stock price dropping, that reflects the whole market sentiment and the general concern that there is over Jobs' health. The market is volatile, and AAPL stock is volatile. If you can't handle the volatility, then you shouldn't be in the stock. Investing in AAPL is not a bank account. Your money is npt guaranteed. You should put your money elsewhere rather than get worried about someone accidentally causing a momentary stock price blip. We also have a free market ......
Bhavesh.
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Alexander said 10:06AM on 10-25-2008
Sure you have those rights, but just like in Germany one's rights can only go so far as they don't interfere with someone else's rights. That's especially the case when the right of free speech collides with somebody's rights of e.g. privacy or financial interest. The flat statement that one "has the right to say what he wants" cannot hold up to that.
But I have only studied some years of American law, so I'm no expert (are you maybe?).
German law differs between opinions and statements of fact. An opinion is protected by the constitution whereas a statement of fact enjoys less protection since (in short) it doesn't help develop the society as much as opinions do.
And no, you don't even have a free market (anymore).
Bhavesh said 3:45PM on 10-25-2008
what right is Josh's rumor post interfering with? It's a choice to be buy apple stock, and that comes with all the attendant risks. Including false rumors, true rumors, facts, and anything else that affects the stock price. No one has a right to own apple stock risk-free. What about all the rumor sites that build up apple stock in the expectation of the next apple product, only to find they were wrong, and then the stock sells off? Should they be held liable too?
Now, if Josh actually had bought puts or shorted the stock outright, and then profited, that is direct market manipulation, and illegal.
If a rumor is false, the stock should come back to normal levels anyway, and if you're truly invested in aaple, there is no change over the long term. In fact, it's even a buying opportunity for long term investors. If you're a short term day trader, then you might have lost money. But again, that's the risk you take investing that way.
Where does censorship end if someone can't post what he believes? A news source should be held to a higher standard, of course. But an individual is just that. People shouldn't be so dumb to react to an unverfied source. The fault belongs to the investors who sold, not josh.
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Alexander said 6:59PM on 10-25-2008
"Censorship" is something completely different and means that the government forbids a certain opinion before it is published. That's not the case her. Again you CAN post what you "believe" in, as long as you don't interfere with other's rights. A company has its own rights, too, similar to a living person.
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Bhavesh said 7:51PM on 10-25-2008
so which rights were infringed upon??
Karl Graf said 7:59AM on 10-27-2008
I can't even comprehend how people can believe that this guy should get in trouble. Even if it was just a practical joke, he should not be liable at all.
If what you are trying to say was the case, then people would find a way to make someone else liable in every case. The fact that people are suing each other for anything these days is bad enough.
For instance the fact the TUAW completly screwed up this article first go should not be a problem. But pretend that the guy that is spoken about in this article owned a public company and you had shares in it. Then, due to the misinformation in the article, you lost money though the temporary stock drop. Are you going to tell me that TUAW is liable for being human and making a mistake of fact?
Anyway, this is not an attack on anyone, rather a vent.
Cheers,
Karl
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