CNBC.com Apple Stocks Down

If investors ever needed a clearer example of the manipulation torpedoing Apple shares, and the susceptibility of these shares to all the insecurities swirling around this company, look no further than the garbage on the web this morning.

Some idiot posts a statement on a CNN citizen journalism web site that Apple

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[AAPL  Loading...      ()   ]CEO Steve Jobs suffered a heart attack. And while this is America and we do enjoy the First Amendment right to free speech, this was the financial equivalent of "Fire" on a crowded trading floor.

I'm reluctant to even address any of this since it all hinges on a silly-- yet dangerous--rumor. But because the headline drove Apple to a new 52-week low, and because Apple took the right step in shooting the rumor down ("It's not true," a spokesman assures me), this needs to be talked about.

Apple is a target of manipulation precisely because it is a target of manipulation. What I mean is that like 5-year olds playing, when they tease each other, they do so because it evokes a reaction. The more the victim cries, the more teasing that will come his way. The trouble with Apple: the company's secretive nature, its carefully crafted image, Jobs' history of health issues and his intrinsic importance to the future success of the company all contribute to the effectiveness of these rumors in moving Apple shares. Good and bad, quite frankly.

Today's blog stupidity was only matched by the gullibility of traders who acted on the rumor. And with electronic trading and a few traders capable of wielding so much power, individual investors are essentially helpless.

It's not true. The rumor is not true. But the reaction to it just goes to show the enormous insecurity some traders suffer toward Apple and its shares. And how easy it is to manipulate this stock. That in itself is an unfortunate risk factor investors have to accept if they're going to put their hard-earned cash into this company.

How unfortunate. But such is the ridiculous climate on Wall Street right now. I hope they find this guy who wrote this post. But all the traders who dumped Apple shares based on that garbage have some searching of their own to do. Soul-searching. Selling first and asking questions later is the work of amateurs. It's not true. The rumor is not true.

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