Posted on 10/04/2008 7:59:41 PM PDT by Mobile Vulgus
One of CNN's citizen reporters on their new iReport service caused a bit of panic for Apple's stock prices this week when one of those reports featured a false claim that Apple CEO Steve Jobs had suffered a heart attack. With rumors swirling the stock price fell until official news from Apple quashing the rumor calmed investors' fears.
Apple shares, which have in the past been shaken by the question of Jobs' health, climbed more than 5 percent in early trade but retreated as the rumor gained momentum on Internet blogs. The stock at one point was down more than 2 percent, and hit a 17-month low of $94.65.
After Apple denied the report, the shares recovered, climbing to $104.04, up 3.9 percent on Nasdaq.
This particular incident is a result of a new effort by several news services offering citizens the opportunity to become local reporters by submitting their own stories on the Internet. CNN, the AP and Reuters all offer such an outlet for first hand news reporting by the public at large. It is all an effort for news agencies to get the edge on reporting breaking news...
Read the rest at Publiusforum.com...
The SEC is investigating whether or not the report was posted to manipulate Apple’s stock price.
Good.
Ping.
There's a definite need for a new organization and corps of talent to do GOOD professional news gathering and reporting.
So a few folks panicked and took a loss, and a few others got a great buy.
This is Manipulation of the Market....This MUST be against the law...
I mean, this is like insider trading which IS against the law...So shouldn’t this be against the LAW????
It most certainly is against the law, and the FBI and SEC are in hot pursuit of the “citizen reporter”. If it was a deliberate attempt to manipulate the stock price (and the SEC is VERY good at rooting out suspicious trades, even if they were done in the name of a friend, ex-co-worker, prostitute, etc, on behalf of the perp-in-chief), the “citizen reporter” is very likely to do prison time and certain to be hit with huge fines.
Too bad there cannot be a law against panicking and emotional decisions.
“...I mean, this is like insider trading which IS against the law...”
Looks like Apple insiders sold off about 13% of their holdings in the past 6 months - seems like a smart move on their parts.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/it?s=aapl
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