“Apple officials have offered no detailed explanation regarding the source of a memo sent to Apple employees the morning of May 16 that falsely claimed that there would be a delay in the release of the company’s iPhone and the Mac OS X Leopard operating system,” Daniel Drew Turner reports for eWeek.
“Soon after the purported internal Apple e-mail was published on the consumer electronics Web site Engadget.com, Apple’s stock price fell from $108.83 to a low of $103.42. The stock recovered by the end of the day, and moved higher on May 17, but at one point nearly $4 billion of Apple’s market capitalization had evaporated,” Turner reports.
“Engadget quickly posted an update to its story, saying the e-mail was a hoax, but still stating that it was ‘an actual internal Apple e-mail that went out to thousands of Apple employees earlier today,'” Turner reports. “However, Natalie Kerris, spokesperson for Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., contradicted this, telling eWEEK on May 17 that the e-mail ‘did not come from Apple.'”
“Kerris declined to discuss any potential investigation into the provenance of the e-mail,” Turner reports. “A spokesperson for the SEC, based in Washington, said he ‘could not confirm or deny’ whether any SEC action would be taken. Intentional manipulation of a company’s stock price can be a serious crime, but, he said, the SEC decides what to pursue based on a ‘case-by-case analysis.'”
Turner reports, “How easily investigators can find the source of the fake Apple memo may depend on whether the memo was sent by a market speculator in the United States or by a sophisticated criminal ring operating in some region far from the reach of federal prosecutors.”
Full article here.
Engadget should be held at least partly responsible for the idiot’s who sold their shares on unconfirmed rumor and speculation based on nothing more than an “email.” Confirm, confirm, confirm – then post the story.
The thought plickens.
well, I’m not gonna lose any sleep over it … nor any money, for that matter
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Dan Rather is gone because he didn’t check his sources. Engadget forgot the code and did not double check.
I won’t take them seriously anymore.
It came from MS.
It was Zune Tang.
Probably originated from Microsoft
Somebody at the SEC should quickly check Balmer’s mail server!
The fact that people actually believed that this lie was true says a lot about people’s perceptions about Apple’s (in)famous secrecy, recent abrupt changes in expected releases of iPhone and Leopard, and history of ethical lapses in backdating stock options. That is, North Korea is a more open society than Apple, Apple did embarrass itself by retracting it’s previous promises of product release, and Apple did admit that a certain number of high-priced executives disobeyed SEC rules and regulations. Apple set itself up for this rumor.
Ryan Block of Engadget has posted a lengthy defense of his poor journalistic practice, but the one thing missing from his essay is “I’m sorry, we screwed up.”
It’s interesting to see the still increasing number of responses to his statement. Many are like mine, pointing out it’s widely accepted for responsible publications to get two independent sources to confirm a news tip that will have major financial impact.
Yet there are loads of the “I love you Engadget, keep it up” posts who say they don’t understand why it was a problem.
As a longtime reporter and editor, it’s upsetting to see neither Ryan nor his supporters get that what he did violates basic journalistic ethics. Nor does the guy have the character to apologize for what amounts to a serious mistake that actually could have gotten someone fired at a newspaper. He deliberately made the decision to “Screw accuracy, I’m going to be first” without caring about the consequences.
Ryan’s main defense seems to be that Engadget is a blog, not a newspaper, and blogs are supposed to be “light and fast.”
Notice he didn’t say “light and fast and accurate.”
Funny thing about newspapers, they all have this newfangled option called a “Web site” now, and it can be updated quickly, just like a blog.
She wore lipstick. She wore a short dress. She wore high heels. She set herself up for rape.
@Island Girl,
Notice he also didn’t say “light and fast and not to be taken seriously.”
As with any blog . . .
Someone set up us the bomb.
maczealot – sorry, but you’re an idiot. It has nothing at all to do with Apple’s secrecy, which is simply good practise from a company with information every competitor wouldkill for..
MDN got the email and rang Apple and got a straight answer.
What’s secret about that?
And as for the options issue, the SEC said Apple had been open and up front.
Take your conspiracy theories back with you to your office ijn Redmond chum.
@ Islandgirl
It’s too bad he can’t just cop to this. If his “light and fast” blog hadn’t read “we have it on good authority..” I’d buy his argument. But that was just plain BS. Good riddance, journalistic integrity!!!
-c
JadisOne said
“Engadget should be held at least partly responsible for the idiot’s who sold their shares on unconfirmed rumor and speculation based on nothing more than an “email.” Confirm, confirm, confirm – then post the story.”
Please, I know sueing someone else because of your own stupidity is all the rage these days, but to hold engadget responsible is ridiculous.
How many times has Apple beat all the wallstreet predictions, announced record breaking profit, new products, higher sales in QtoQ, and YtoY, and had their stock drop way more than 4% because the ass,… ooops, I mean ANALists said oh yeah this quarter was nice, but there is no way they can do it again. And to top it off, it took weeks for the stock to come back to the previous price and go beyond.
This was just some more evidence that hobbyist daytraders are basically stupid. Anyone who has followed Apple stock for more than a few months knows that it is extremely volitile, it will shoot down for no apparent reason, and then go soaring.
If everyone is so convinced and concerned that there is wrong doing or a conspiracy of some sort, follow the money. NO, not the money lost by stupid, braindead day traders who ditch everything on a 3-5% drop, but rather look to any gigantic block purchases made during the dip.
Anyone who bails on a 4% drop based on a freaking rumors website deserves the blood bath.
If you gave this rumor a millisecond of credibility then you are as guilty of rape as the editors at Engadget. Besides, have you heard of the fable of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf”? If you are unfamiliar with this fable, the take home message is that telling lies and engaging in deception leads to painful experiences.
“but rather look to any gigantic block purchases made during the dip.”
EXACTLY – that is the real meat of this story. =)
ChrissyOne,
Yeah its the meat, but no one seems to be looking in that direction….. They are too concerned with crucifying a rumor blog over their own stupidity.
So, to quote Clara, “wheres the beef?”
MW= designed ?? So maybe there was a conspiracy? After all, the MDN magic word is lots more accurate than most rumor blogs. (Including MDN!)
“Notice he also didn’t say “light and fast and not to be taken seriously.”
The thing is, Engadget presents itself as a serious source of tech information, not just another “Rumors” site. And apparently, folks who play the stocks saw it that way, too.
@ChrissyOne
My point too, if he’d just said, “Hey man, I’m sorry I made a mistake. We’ve changed our policies as a result,” I’d have thought more of him.
All the dancing around really isn’t doing Engadget or Ryan Block any good. It’s just prolonging the debate.
“If you gave this rumor a millisecond of credibility then you are as guilty of rape as the editors at Engadget.”
I gave this rumor zero credence. Matter of fact, I happened to have bought on that same day. So, what is your point?
My point was that Apple’s behaviors (evidenced to be on the up-and-up) does not clear the way for malicious behavior.
How many set’s of teeths do you go through when reeding some of these post’s?
I can get them wholesale.
@ Macaday:
How many telephone receptionists does Apple have?
How many people actually called Apple after Engadget published this rumor?
When did you call?
Who did you speak with?
What questions did you ask?
How long was your conversation?
Do you consider yourself a gullible person?
Who at Apple has sufficient credibility to convince you that the report was false?
If someone falsely accuses you of an indiscretion, do you defend yourself by remaining silent? What are people supposed to think if Apple doesn’t aggressively defend itself?
Where was Apple’s counterattack on Apple’s homepage? Apple did nothing to dispel the rumor. Apple’s failure to act and act promptly only contributed to the rumor’s credibility. Maybe Apple’s integrity is so damaged that no one would have believed them.
Secrecy and silence are not the same, moron.
Apple admitted that several of its executives in Cupertino violated SEC rules and regulations. The conspiracy is all their doing, not mine, even Apple and Steve Jobs have acknowledged that.
Well, smartass, are you able to answer these questions? Hmm?
How much credence did you give the reports that backdating stock options was occuring at Apple?
I’m more concerned as to why a Microsoft Office 2007 Vista ad is showing up on this page right now!