Jobs' medical leave impacts Apple stock market performance
updated 12:35 pm EST, Mon January 17, 2011
Frankfurt, S&P, NASDAQ measures drop
The sudden medical leave announced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs this morning is already having an effect on stock trading, according to Reuters. The agency reports that Apple shares fell 7.5 percent on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange by 2:38PM GMT; futures on the S&P 500 SPc1 and the NASDAQ NDc have slipped 0.3 and 0.9 percent, respectively. The impact of the announcement has been muted by Apple's decision to make it on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, when US markets are closed.
Many of the details of Jobs' leave are unknown, most critically how long it will last, and the severity of the illness. In a worst-case scenario the executive may be suffering a recurrence of his cancer, which was first treated in 2004, but has since led to complications including the need for a liver transplant in 2009. Although Jobs has said he will continue to be CEO and make "major strategic decisions," day-to-day affairs at Apple will for the foreseeable future be handled by COO Tim Cook.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 2008
If Steve Jobs is dying, then Apple
is financially ruined. No one will be willing to invest in Apple without Steve Jobs running it. I guess everyone knew it was coming one day, but now it's so soon. Best of luck, Steve. It's unfortunate you'll have to watch Wall Street destroy Apple despite a record quarter.