Apple Shares Fall On Steve Jobs Health Rumor

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Shares of Apple Inc fell as much as 2 percent on Tuesday after technology website Gizmodo reported a "rumor" that Chief Executive Steve Jobs's health was declining.

A spokesman for Apple declined to comment on the rumor.

When asked about Jobs's health, the spokesman said "if ever Steve or the board of directors decided that he was no longer capable of doing his job as CEO of Apple, I'm sure they will let you know."

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Rule Of Law]

For those concerned about Apple's stock performance over this past year, they should compare it to another box maker, Dell, not to software co's. if they want a real apples to apples comparison. I'm sure there are many others, as well that show this to be an industry phenomenon not restricted to any one maker.

Additionally, there are other economic sectors that have a far greater effect on our daily lives than computer builders--one would be Banking--that have lost infinitely more value in the last 12 months. Even after Billions of tax payer dollars have been thrown at them.

[auramac]

Steve Jobs must be as disgusted as I am that these stupid rumors persist, and it's pretty obvious that he's stubborn enough to stick to his guns when he says his health is nobody's business- in fact, anybody at Apple who feeds into this crap would get fired. How many times must he reassure people? Do we need to know about his bowel movements and nutrition problems? I have ulcerative colitis- like Crohn's disease, you can be very ill but not at death's door quite often. I believe, and certainly hope that Jobs is OK, and am quite sure he and his company have a succession plan in case he gets run over by a truck. If you can't handle not knowing every single private detail concerning the man and the company, then don't buy the stock, and shut the H and/or F UP!

[Rule Of Law]

You're asking for people to show a little humanity. In this age of arrogance and greed, that's asking suite a bit, I think...

[Rule Of Law]

dern fingers--Quite, not suite...

[FZliveson]

Last Spring, I cashed out all my stocks, except 25% of my Apple.
I had a strong feeling the economy was going to tank...It did.
I bought the #347 Apple II computers and have been "with"
Apple since. Some would call it "stupid" to keep my remaining shares
in Apple, but remember, I was out of the market last
May with everything else.

Keep going til you can't, Steve.
We who know you, love you.
The world is a better place for what you and the Woz created.

[Harrier]

Jobs has saved Apple an built it up. He clearly hasn't fully recovered from his illness. I wish he and Apple good health and a bright future

[pieco]

" Wish you Very Happy New Year -2009"

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http://www.look4leads.com/forum/index.php

[Antifascist-08]

I have a few friends who have made their fortunes by buying Apple stock when it was low. You would think this company has gone out of business about 3 times.

Another Reuters garbage story.

[maxbianco]

Apple is to computing, what Ipod is to zune.....

what the h3ll is a zune anyway?????

hahahahhaha.

best wishes to SJ

[KGinSanFrancisco]

i live in the valley and was present when Steve Jobs talked about his cancer a few years ago at a Stanford graduation. He said he was lucky that it wasn't the bad kind but a treatable one and the operation got rid of all the bad stuff. From what he said he was cured. It is bizarre how thin he is looking and i also didn't like what the spokesperson said, not very reassuring, almost confirming that he is very ill.
He is one of the superstars of the valley, a brilliant man who has contributed so much to technology and making our lives better. I wish he will be cured again; it will be too sad if he dies so young.
WEhy is it ttaht there are so many bad people in this world that live forever and just to make the world a worst place( ex; Chenney, Bush, Rumsfeld, etc)

[Perry Clease]

" It is bizarre how thin he is looking and i also didn't like what the spokesperson said, not very reassuring, almost confirming that he is very ill."

Is he still a vegan/vegetarian?

[lejman]

i've been a vegetarian for a year and a half and i've gained 12 pounds.

[Thundrdrum]

His looks convey a grim prognosis. Here's hoping he has fun every day he has left. We should all be so gifted to leave a legacy such as his.

[JZ735]

I feel sorry for Mr. Jobs, but I really don't care about Apple stock...

[BlackYowe]

Yes, Steve Jobs deserves respect and sympathy. It's easy to be cold posting on a board but Steve I wish you the best. Get some rest and let Newton's Apple spin....

[zamiel]

Sad. Steve Jobs looks like an AIDS patient. The company is perfectly aware that he's dying but refuses to tell their stockholders and the public the truth. They've decided it's more profitable to deny the handwriting on the wall. C'mon, Apple. Just say it. The whole world knows you're lying.

[Rule Of Law]

Yeah, cancer can do that to you. You might want to try it sometime.

[BlackYowe]

Steve was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer four years ago, for which he underwent surgery that Apple then said was successful. From what I have read over the years you don't make it if you have pancreatic cancer and some forms are related to HIV infection. I lost a dear friend to it in England last year.

[Rule Of Law]

Apple Just Killed Microsoft

By Tim Beyers
December 23, 2008 | Comments (1)

BusinessWeek's list of the world's 10 most influential companies is out, and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) isn't on it. Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) is. So is Google (Nasdaq: GOOG).

Hear that? It's the jeers from the iGallery: "Thanks for playing, Mr. Softy, but everybody hated Vista. You no longer matter." These are the companies that do, says BusinessWeek:

Equally telling: Those following the Big 3 Techies in our 125,000-strong Motley Fool CAPS database, like BusinessWeek, tend to favor Apple more than either Microsoft or Google:

Metric Microsoft Apple Google
CAPS stars (5 max) *** **** ***
Total ratings

For details see http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2008/12/23/apple-just-killed-microsoft.aspx

[Rule Of Law]

Wow, doesn't seem that Business Week is overly concerned with Steve Jobs' health in this article. And never once calls them a cult product--probably because once you sell so many millions and millions of units, that's sort of a, oh I don't know--a lie?

[SwingingFromCenter]

Except (as I and others have pointed out) for the fact that Apple shares have done worse in this economy than just about every other company out there.

[Culturemaven]

Interesting... I was wondering why Steve Jobs was featured on a few "Celebrity De.ath Watch" lists for 2009.
I hope he's actually doing fine.

[loki]

scary when the only thing a high tech company has going for it is the image of the CEO. I guess this is a sign telling us that not even the investors believe in the quality of the Apple products. They just invest in the head com artist .

[DocJerome]

Whatever, . . . Apple computers are superior to all others. They are the creative community's trusted companion.

[Lamethrower]

Would that be the "graphic design" creative community? I imagine so, because the myth that Apple is superior graphically has been floating around forever. Unfortunately, it happens to be just that, a myth. Any PC-platformed machine can outrun an Apple by leaps and bounds, especially with the advent of Crossfire (ATI) and SLI (Nvidia) technology.

[scornflakes]

Fail.

[BlackYowe]

Exactly! I can do anything on my PC a Mac can do and so much more.

[rwhiteside]

TOTALLY not true. If you actually were a graphic designer, you would never have typed that. Macs are the leader. No contest. I don't know any employed graphic designed who works on a nasty pc platform who's worth his salt. Actually, make that, I don't know any employed graphic designed who works on a nasty pc platform. Period.

[BlackYowe]

Maybe they need to sell each new apple with a lifetime supply of condoms. "Be safe do it with apple".

[BlackYowe]

I am an artist and part of the "creative community" and I use an Acer. Apple computers are much too limited in the soft ware they can use. I make my living as a full time artist.

[dutchman]

You're misinformed. Apple is the only true multi-platform computer on the market. An intel Mac can run OS x, Windows, Linux and all of their related software. It's Windows machines that are the most limited.

[crayola 08]

as an artist what program do you use that's not available for the mac? or are you just spouting the same line that those who are uneducated about macs have been spouting for 15 years?

[auramac]

I am an artist and wouldn't dream of subjecting myself to all the applications not available for Macs- they're called viruses and spyware.

Otherwise, there is absolutely nothing I need that I can't get for a Mac. I'd say you're a fool, but I know you're simply lying. Or you aren't an artist at all.

[Lamethrower]

On August 14th of this year, Apple stock was at $180 a share. This was before they announced they were going to construct some laptops out of a single solid piece of aluminum.

Today the stock closed at $86 a share. That's a drop of 53% of the stock's value just in the last 4 months. To correlate, even in these tough economic times, Microsoft's stock value has only dropped 29% in that same time frame. Somehow I get the feeling that Apple has problems larger than that of just Steve Jobs.

[rocketman69]

Toyota's down 54%. Wanna drive a microsoft car?

[BlackYowe]

Why not drive a Geo Prism they have the best of both worlds.

[Lamethrower]

You have very....unusual math. Ougust 14th, Toyota had a price of $45 a share. Today that price is 32. That's a drop of 29%--which is 25% less of a drop than you claim.

[dutchman]

Faulty logic.

Apple's stock was very expensive before the markets fell. High P/E growth stocks (like aapl) are often the ones that fall the farthest when market greed turns to market fear.

Microsoft, on the other hand, has been cheaper based on current earnings largely because it's already largely perceived as a "mature company with limited growth prospects", as my firm's CIO likes to say.