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Investors Try to Assess Apple Fallout
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE (AP Business Writer)
From Associated Press
August 04, 2006 3:41 PM EDT
SAN FRANCISCO - As the stock option cloud over Apple Computer Inc. darkened, investors tried to determine Friday whether the company's popular products are powerful enough to overcome the potential accounting and legal risks facing the maker of the iPod and the Macintosh.

The possibility that the improper handling of employee stock options might erase some of Apple's past profits or, even worse, plunge its renowned CEO, Steve Jobs, into a legal morass spooked some investors. Apple shares fell as much as 6.7 percent during Friday's trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market before rebounding to close at $68.30, down $1.29, or 1.9 percent.

"You can't spin this as good news," Standard & Poor's analyst Richard Stice said Friday.

Besides jumbling its past earnings and raising worries about Jobs' possible role in the scandal, Apple's stock option troubles could lead to other complications.

While it reviews possible revisions to its past profits, Apple expects to miss a deadline for filing its most recent quarterly report with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If the delay is long enough, regulators could try to delist Apple's stock from Nasdaq, although the chances of that happening are considered slim.

The deepening problems also expose Apple to legal hassles that extend beyond Jobs, who is widely regarded as the key to the company's success.

Depending on the nature of the possible stock option abuses, class-action lawyers and prosecutors could target Apple's board for alleged misconduct. The directors include several well-known leaders who would attract intense media attention if they are dragged into the stock option mess.

Apple's current compensation committee consists of: former Vice President Al Gore, who has been on the board since 2003; Intuit Inc. Chairman William Campbell, who has been on the board since 1997; and J. Crew Group Inc. CEO...]]> http://forums.amugonline.org/index.php?action=post;topic=623.0 Fri, 04 Aug 2006 23:00:22 GMT http://forums.amugonline.org/index.php?topic=623.msg2167#msg2167