This article discusses a drop in Apple stock prices as a result of a posting on ireport.com which claimed that Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs had suffered a major heart attack.
This was the posting:
"Steve Jobs was rushed to the ER just a few hours ago after suffering a major heart attack. I have an insider who tells me that paramedics were called after Steve claimed to be suffering from severe chest pains and shortness of breath. My source has opted to remain anonymous, but he is quite reliable. I haven't seen anything about this anywhere else yet, and as of right now, I have no further information, so I thought this would be a good place to start. If anyone else has more information, please share it."
The stocks dropped 10% around 9:30am when the report was issued. The SEC is investigating to find out if the article was posted with the intent of lowering the stock's price. However, the interesting point for me is that the article's author cites an "insider" as an "anonymous" source. I do not believe ireport.com would be cited as a news media outlet. I think the author (not a professional journalist) might be sued by Apple and might be subseonaed to discover the source of information. I believe he would not be protected, therefore, by shield laws. I think he may be sued for libel...however, since the stocks recovered...are there really damages?
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