Teenager Planted Bogus Steve Jobs Heart Attack Story
One of the more notorious whodunits of the past year has been solved...who planted the fake story of the Steve Jobs heart attack.
Henry Blodget’s website Silicon Alley Insider was caught up in the maelstrom; Henry was roundly criticized after quickly running the story after picking up a posting on a CNN website called i Report, an experiment of sorts in citizen journalism, and not more reliable than a chat board of bad blog.
We won’t rehash that incident, but it does not appear nefarious stock trading was involved. But bloggers might want to start thinking twice about what they post; Perez Hilton can write about Lindsay Lohan’s sex life all day long in he wants, but posting articles about publicly traded companies during market hours is a different deal. We should hold ourselves to a different standard....opinion is one thing, but this was another.
A fake Internet report that Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs had suffered a heart attack was posted by a teenager, and investigators haven’t found evidence he tried to profit from driving down the stock, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is examining the 18-year-old’s motives after the article on CNN’s iReport.com sent Apple shares down as much as 5.4 percent Oct. 3, according to the people, who declined to be identified because the probe isn’t public. While the investigation is continuing, the agency hasn’t unearthed any trading records that show he benefited from the drop, one of them said.
The so-called citizen-journalist article stoked investor concern that Jobs’s health was in danger. The 53-year-old, who co-founded Apple in 1976, underwent surgery for a form of pancreatic cancer four years ago. The SEC is searching for traders who try to depress stocks by spreading false rumors amid a credit-crisis that has fueled the widest swings on a percentage basis in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index since 1932. The regulator opened a probe into the Apple report within hours. Bloomberg
Maybe a moratorium on stories like this between 8AM and 4PM? Just a thought..this is not the last time we will run into this.
Jobs Said to Be Targeted by Teen in Heart-Attack Tale
Bloomberg
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