This morning a false report hit the web via CNN’s iReport that Apple CEO Steve Jobs suffered a massive heart attack. The report was categorically denied, but not before hammering Apple’s stock price down to their lowest closing price in 52 weeks. Fortunately, the SEC has announced that they are investigating the fraudulent report.
It’s no surprise that this is leading to an SEC investigation. The false report triggered a massive dip in Apple’s stock price, and all parties involved need to make sure the report wasn’t “placed.” Bloomberg explains that “The agency’s enforcement unit is trying to determine whether the iReport.com posting was intended to push down the company’s stock price. CNN is cooperating with the SEC’s probe, network spokeswoman Jennifer Martin said. The report is “not true,” Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said in an interview. ” While you would think a blunder like this would hurt CNN’s credibility? Apparently they have rules set in place forbidding contributors from making up stories about celebrities health conditions. And they think the rules retain their credibility.
Here is a statement from CNN regarding the false Steve Jobs heart attack report:
iReport.com is an entirely user-generated site where the content is determined by the community. Content that does not comply with Community Guidelines will be removed. After the content in question was uploaded to iReport.com, the community brought it to our attention. Based on our Terms of Use that govern user behavior on iReport.com, the fraudulent content was removed from the site and the user’s account was disabled.
Bloomberg explains that “Apple shares dropped $3.03, or 3 percent, to $97.07 at 4 p.m. New York time on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The stock earlier fell to $94.65, the first time it has traded at less than $100 since May 2007. ”
Read - Bloomberg
