“I’ve gone down this road before, and I’m growing tired from it. Unlike so many of you, however, I don’t have a financial horse in this race since my company prevents me from owning any shares in any individual company,” Jim Goldman writes for CNBC. “So my fatigue from the rumor mill must pale in comparison to those of you long on Apple and short on trust right now… Of course, I’m referring to the now nearly daily rumors of whether Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs is suffering from a relapse of his pancreatic cancer. Or some other undisclosed health malady.”
“[Now] the second wave of stories has now begun. How Apple continues to bungle this story. How the company should come clean. How Apple is shirking its fiduciary responsibility by not sharing more details of Jobs’ health. How it’s not the rumor-mongers and shorts who are responsible for their own rumors (hogwash!), but Apple itself for not being more aggressive in dousing them,” Goldman writes.
“Had Jobs been diagnosed with, or suffered from, something that diminished his capacity or precluded him from performing his duties as CEO, the company would be legally — and ethically — bound to disclose it. Common bug, something more serious; it didn’t matter in June because he was still able to perform. And it matters as little today. He can perform. Until he says, or the company says, he can’t,” Goldman writes.
“It’s a classic case of ‘no news is good news.’ Stop the rumors. And stop believing them. Until Apple says something different, or I get my hands on something tangible and trustworthy, I’m taking the company at its word. All the rest is noise and manipulation. And since the SEC doesn’t feel the need to investigate any of this — which is too bad; and since Apple is doing exactly what it should, Apple shareholders are wise to consider this ongoing madness as a risk factor in this stock. At some point, Apple’s massively strong fundamentals will eclipse this garbage,” Goldman writes. “I just don’t know when that will be.”
There’s more in the full article – highly recommended – here.
We’d expect Microsoft to innovate before the SEC as it stands today gets around to investigating rampant, recurring, and blatantly obvious stock manipulation. Bring back the Uptick Rule and remove the shorts’ temptation or nothing will ever stop these rumors about Jobs’ health.
