Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 4th Oct 2008 21:12 UTC
If you're looking for a party, Wall Street probably isn't the place you're going to find one. And to make matters worse, there are apparently people out there who are wilfully trying to make the life of the people on Wall Street (and subsequently, the rest of the world) even harder. By making up fake stories. And publish them on CNN's Digg - iReport.com. Some individual had posted a fake report last Friday, claiming Steve Jobs had suffered from a heart attack and was rushed into the hospital. As a result, Apple's stock made a 10% nosedive.
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Member since:
2007-05-12
Thom, I too vehemently disagree, but with you. Real journalists do not publish anything they have not confirmed with at least two independent sources, or anyway that's how it used to be. You don't get a free pass because you've added at the end of your report a disclaimer that you're waiting for a statement from Apple and updates will be posted as they come. The story being unconfirmed doesn't mean it is false and many people, especially in these economically turbulent times, will choose to act on the worst case scenario and try to beat the rest of the market to the punch. I consider Silicon Alley Insider a fairly serious web publication and I think they should have known better.
As for what will happen with Apple and their stock when Steve Jobs really dies, well, the most likely scenario goes something like this: apple's stock takes a hit, likely more than 10%; the company's well rehearsed succession plan kicks in; at the end of the next quarter they announce that the profit and the growth are just as healthy as ever and the stock recovers a bit; in six months Apple release some new fancy-shmancy products and again report healthy growth and profit and the stock recovers more, probably completely; in a year no investor remembers or cares about Steve and the stock is once again valued based on a mix of rational and irrational indicators.