Apple - Chancen und Risiken

Greetings

spekulativer Markt, generelle Unsicherheiten, und der ges Computermarkt fällt (s.a. Taiwan, Chin, etc) dazu kommt die "interessante" Kreditkartenstudie, die den Nachweis erbringt, das "das Volk" dann doch nicht soviel songs über den Computer kauft (PS bisher konnte ich (wer bin ich schon :-() noch nicht den tatsächlich Auftraggeber der Studie ermitteln (und ich spreche nicht von der durchführenden Firma...).
Apple selber hält sich in elegantes Schweigen und pluff in der allgemeinen Ungemach Laune (gibt es das i-pone, wann wie wo wer; gibt es den Super-I-pod, touch-screen, morgen in 3 Versionen, etc, machen die shops den erwarteten X-mas Umsatz, etc etc) wurde dann die Aktie "ordentlich runtergebuttert" und das kurz vor Weihnachten.
Alle "Analysten" geben immer noch grünes Licht auf mittlere Sicht bis mind 100$ wenn nicht sogar 125$ (Yes !) aber momentan -3%; dh wer dabei sit = durchhalten den die guten news kommen bei apple immer Ende des 1 Quartals nach der show, etc
und wer nicht dabei ist kann sich überlegen einzusteigen, denn apple rollt den PC Markt langsam von hinten auf; mittelfristig

open source
americanbulls.com/...ompanyTicker=AAPL&MarketTicker=NASD&TYP=S

keine Kaufempfehlung

AMSTERDAM, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Sales at Apple's (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile , Research) online music shop iTunes Music Store fell off a cliff in the first six months of 2006, according to a recent survey.

Since January 2006 the number of monthly iTunes transactions has declined 58 percent, while the average size per purcahse declined by 17 percent, leading to a 65-percent overall drop in monthly iTunes revenue, U.S. market research group Forrester said in a survey among North American consumers.

"It is too soon to tell if this decline was seasonal or if buyers were reaching their saturation level for digital music," Forrester said in the report that was published to its clients last week, and made available to Reuters on Wednesday.

Apple's iTunes Music Store is the most popular online music store in the world and Apple said it has sold over 1.5 billion music tracks and tens of millions of TV shows and movies.

The decline comes after a period of strong growth. The number of monthly iTunes transactions grew sevenfold, from just over two transactions per 1,000 households in April 2004, to nearly 17 during January 2006. Over that period, the average transaction size almost doubled, to $6.69 from $3.55.

Forrester analysed 2,791 US iTunes debit and credit card purchases made between April 2004 and June 2006 from the research firm's consumer panel.

Most consumers buy just a few songs at a time, while the average is boosted by a smaller number of heavy buyers.

"Only Apple knows just how much profit there is at the end of the day on a $1.98 credit card transaction for two songs, but with transaction costs, hosting costs, and the wholesale price of the songs, there's not much margin left," Forrester said.

Of all online homes, only 3 percent buy music at Apple's music store, and of those most continue to buy most of their music on compact discs (CDs). "Although Apple is the dominant leader in the digital music industry, the entire category of digital music made up just 4 percent of U.S. music sales in 2005," Forrester said.

viel Glück

Der iTunes Store ist ohnehin nur auf eine schwarze null ausgelegt. Das bei Kreditkarten-Käufen von z.B. zwei Songs nicht viel Geld in Apples Taschen hängenbleibt ist klar, war aber auch nie so geplant.

Die Nachricht der rückläufigen Umsätze halte ich daher nicht für besonders kritisch - zumal noch nicht gesichert ist,  ob wir es hier mit saisonalen Effekten zu tun haben.

Die einzig wichtige Kennzahl für den Kurs der Aktie ist die der iPod-Verkäufe. Und die scheint mir momentan nicht in Gefahr. Es ist schon lange bekannt, daß nur wenige iPod-Besitzer auch online Musik kaufen.

Kurzfristig mögen nach der Meldung einige kalte Füße bekommen aber langfristig ändert der iTunes Store allein nichts an den Gewinnen, die Apple macht.

The Associated Press December 13, 2006, 3:46PM EST
Apple gains as analyst sees sales growth

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NEW YORK

An analyst predicted Wednesday that Apple Computer Inc.'s shares will trade higher by the end of next year, with revenue boosted by new products such as the iPhone and iTV.

Morgan Stanley analyst Rebecca F. Runkle raised her target price to $110 from $90, and said in a note to investors the computer and iPod maker's expanding portfolio, growing distribution force and opportunities at increasing market share all lead to an "Overweight" rating for the stock.

The analyst said she has "high conviction" that the iPhone will launch in the first half of 2007.

"We expect Steve Jobs to announce the iPhone at MacWorld or early next year," she wrote. The annual Apple exposition begins Jan. 9 in San Francisco.

Citing unnamed sources, Runkle said the iPhone will cost $599 for a 4-gig model and $649 for an 8-gig one. The phone will be wider than the iPod Nano, and thinner than the Video, with a 3.5 inch LCD screen. It will be made of metal and available in multiple colors including at least black, white and silver, she said. Cingular Wireless is seen as the likely carrier in the U.S.

In addition to new products, less exposure to any "disruption" from Microsoft Corp.'s launch of its Vista operating system could help reduce seasonal risk for Apple's shares, Runkle wrote.

Shares of the Cupertino, Calif., company rose $2.60, or 3 percent, to $88.74 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $50.16 and $93.15

+3% mit den Füssen im Wasser, dann kann den Kurs wohl nichts aus der Bahn werfen :)

__Dec. 13___
California Water Service Co. crews are cleaning up what's left of a major water leak that left more than a foot of water lining the floor of an Apple Computer Inc. building in Cupertino early this morning.
At one point more than 100 gallons of water per minute were flooding into the building from a leak under the first floor, a Santa Clara County Fire Department dispatcher said.

The leak was first reported at 12:55 a.m. today when a security guard called to report that water was coming out of a wall in the building, the dispatcher said. It was later determined that the leak was coming from under the building.

California Water Service Co. crews shut off water to the building at approximately 2:30 a.m. today and are working to clean up damaged areas of the building, the dispatcher said.

abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=local&id=4848164

"We continue to believe the shift to online distribution of media is in its infancy," Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst Gene Munster said in a research note Dec. 13. Munster estimates that only 5% of music sales were online in 2006. But even with a mere two years of iTunes data to study for trends, Munster thinks it's clear that the music store's sales typically spike in January as people cash in on gift cards and new iPod owners discover the technology. As a result, Munster thinks Apple's online music sales will tick upward in early 2007. Munster reiterated an outperform opinion on Apple's stock.

The comments countered a Forrester Research report that said Apple has been steadily selling just 20 iTunes tracks for each iPod sold. “iTunes won’t save the music business – or Apple,” analyst Josh Bernoff said in note Dec. 6. After analyzing 2,791 U.S. iTunes debit and credit card purchases, Bernoff concluded that the number of monthly transactions declined 58% between January and June 2006.

“The conclusion that iTunes sales are slowing is simply incorrect,” said Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr in an e-mail.

Apple is working on expanding its business with new products such as the iPhone and iTV.

"Near-term, the introduction of new products and less exposure to any disruption from Microsoft's Vista OS launch could help reduce seasonal risk for Apple shares," analyst Rebecca Runkle said in a research note Dec. 13. She expects the company's stock price to trade higher once again by year-end 2007.

Boosting estimates on the company's earnings per share for 2007 and 2008, Runkle hiked her price target on the stock to $110 from $90.

If investors and analysts maintain their enthusiasm for the shares, the new target may not be far out of reach

Gerüchte um iPhone treiben Aktie in die Höhe

Die Aktie von Apple ist um 3,38 Prozent auf 89,05 Dollar gestiegen. Diese Entwicklung wird auf die Spekulationen rund um das iPhone zurückgeführt.

(Wien, 14.12.2006) Die Gerüchte um das iPhone treiben die Aktie von Apple in die Höhe. Am Mittwoch stieg sie um 3,38 Prozent auf 89,05 Dollar an. Der Index der Technologiebörse NASDAQ blieb aber unverändert.

Rätseln um iPhone
Seit Wochen wird über ein iPhone gerätselt, das schon im Januar 2007 auf den Mark kommen soll. Es heißt, der taiwanesische Hersteller Hon Hai Precision ist mit der Produktion des Handys beauftragt worden. Auch Patentanträge von Apple geben den Spekulationen ständig Nahrung. Der Konzern hüllt sich weiterhin in Schweigen.

iTV im Januar
Eine Ausnahme machte Apple-Chef Steve Jobs allerdings. Er kündigte schon im Herbst ein neues Gerät an. "iTV" soll Musik und Videos kabellos vom PC zum Fernseher liefern. Die Verbindungsbox soll etwa 299 Dollar kosten. Damit macht Apple den ersten Schritt ins Filmgeschäft.

GreetingsMarket Pulse Announces Its AM Stock Picks for Thursday, Dec. 14, 2006: AAPL, INSM, INTC, CSCO
PrimeNewswire - December 14, 2006 9:00 AM ET

Related Quotes
Symbol   Last Chg
AAPL Trade 88.57 -0.48
CSCO Trade 27.27 +0.02
INSM Trade 0.94 +0.06
INTC Trade 20.79 +0.09
Quotes delayed at least 15 minutes


Market Pulse is pleased to announce the following stock recommendations. Bernard Schmitt of Market Pulse states, "These notable stocks should be watched because they look great lately from a fundamental and technical perspective." Bernard possesses many years of experience in the financial industry recommending and evaluating stocks. He rates them as follows:

Apple Computer Inc. (Nasdaq:AAPL) : Market Outperform

Insmed Inc. (Nasdaq:INSM) : Attractive

Intel Corp. (Nasdaq:INTC) : Bearish

Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:CSCO) : Market Outperform

Recommendation Meanings

These recommendations are investment opinions of Market-Pulse.com and reflect the stock's potential to move over the next one to four weeks of trading. This analysis is done from a technical and fundamental perspective.

viel Glück

"We believe these concerns are overdone and we would take advantage of these misplaced fears to add to AAPL positions," Shaw Wu, a financial analyst at American Technology Research, wrote in a note Thursday, reiterating his "buy" recommendation.

Gene Munster of the investment banking firm Piper Jaffray also countered the notion that iTunes sales were declining rapidly and cited year-over-year comparisons instead, which Wall Street considers to be more telling. In a note Wednesday, he estimated the number of songs sold per week on iTunes had risen 78 percent in the first nine months of 2006 compared with the same period in 2005.

Rebecca Runkle of Morgan Stanley even raised her target price for Apple shares to $110 from $90 on Wednesday, citing Apple's expanding portfolio, growing distribution force and opportunities at increasing market share.

Cupertino-based Apple itself quickly refuted the Forrester report and reiterated its position Thursday.

"The conclusion that iTunes sales are slowing is simply incorrect," spokesman Tom Neumayr said.

Apple has sold more than 1.5 billion songs on iTunes and more than 70 million iPod players, Neumayr said.

He declined, however, to break out any specific iTunes sales data.

Apple officials would sometimes say in quarterly conference calls with analysts that the iTunes segment was breaking even or eking out a small profit, but the company has never delineated actual sales figures. Instead, it places sales from its iTunes Music Store under a larger category of "Other Music Related Products and Services," which also includes revenue from iPod services and third-party accessories.

In turn, observers on Wall Street and elsewhere are left to do their own math.

Internet data provider comScore Networks joined the chorus on Thursday, saying its own data showed iTunes sales grew 84 percent in the first three quarters of 2006.

Based on Apple's own financial reports over the past two years, sales of Apple's Macintosh computers, iPod players and "music-related" services have all experienced record growth when compared to a previous year.

AAPL:US
Apple Computer Inc
Apple ITunes Sales Jumped 84% in First Nine Months (Update2)

By Dina Bass

Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes music sales rose 84 percent in the first nine months of 2006 from a year earlier, according to a report from ComScore Networks Inc.

The number of transactions rose 67 percent and dollars spent per transaction increased 10 percent, ComScore said in a statement late yesterday. ITunes online store sells songs and videos that can be played on a personal computer or Apple's market-dominating iPod device.

The report contrasts with a Forrester Research Inc. study of credit card data that found a 65 percent decline in iTunes revenue between January and June. Apple called the report ``simply incorrect,'' and Forrester analyst Josh Bernoff said on his blog yesterday that the sample size used in his study was too small to draw a conclusion about a sales drop.

``As Mark Twain might have said, the rumors of iTunes death have been greatly exaggerated,'' said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of Reston, Virginia-based ComScore, in a statement. ComScore said it was prompted to release the data following the Forrester report.

Tom Neumayr, a spokesman for Cupertino, California-based Apple, didn't respond to a request for comment.

Different Comparisons

ComScore's report compared the first three quarters of 2006 to the same period a year earlier, while Forrester analyzed data between January and June of this year.

Apple shares fell 2.9 percent on Dec. 12 after the Forrester study was released. Shares of Apple fell 50 cents to $88.55 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. The stock has gained 23 percent this year.

Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Cos. found a 78 percent increase in songs sold per week in the first nine months when compared with the year-earlier period, according to a note he published yesterday.

Looking at the average number of songs downloaded per day, growth was 95 percent when comparing September 2006 to January 2005, said Shaw Wu, an analyst at American Technology Research, in a note. Wu rates Apple shares ``buy.'' Munster rates them ``outperform.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Dina Bass in Seattle at dbass2@bloomberg.net  

NEW YORK, Dec 15 (Reuters) - CBS Corp (CBSa.N: Quote, Profile , Research) said on Friday it is launching a new music label as part of an effort to supply its television shows with less expensive music. At the same time, the television programs would promote the new acts signed by the label, dubbed CBS Records.

The label also inked a deal with Apple Computer Inc's (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile , Research) iTunes online music service to sell the label's music. It will also sell comventional CDs through partnerships with outside companies.  

Apple seen selling as many as 9 million Macs in 2007

By Katie Marsal
Published: 03:00 PM EST

Apple Computer could sell more than 9 million computers next year if its Mac market share continues to grow at the same rate seen during the 2006 calendar year, one Wall Street analyst says.

In one of several research reports from PiperJaffray this week, analyst Gene Munster said he expects the company's share of the PC market will continue to grow in 2007 due to improved availability of Macs, an expanding footprint of customers, and the ability to run Windows on a Mac.

Apple's Mac market share in the third quarter of 2006 was 2.8 percent and will likely be around 3.0 percent for the fourth quarter, the analyst said, up from 2.1 percent in the first quarter.

"Based on several catalysts, we believe Mac market share can grow by 1 percent again in 2007, ending the year at around 4 percent, with an average for the year of 3.5 percent.," Munster wrote in a note to clients.

With an average market share of 3.5 percent for the year, Apple would sell 9.01 million Macs during the course of the year, according to the analyst's estimates. That's significantly more than Street consensus estimates of 6.95 million Macs based on an average market share of 2.7 percent.

PJ Mac Market Share Estimates for 2007


The additional 2.06 million Macs would add more than $2.8 billion to Apple's bottom line, Munster said, making the Street's current earnings-per-share estimates for the Cupertino, Calif.-based company some $0.35, or 11.6 percent, too low.

According to IDC, Apple's current worldwide Mac market share stands at 2.8 percent.

Rebecca Runkle, an analyst for Morgan Stanley who retains reputable industry contacts, recently corroborated evidence of a dual-model strategy through her own proprietary checks. She told clients in a research note this week the phones will sport a metal-clad enclosure and feature a virtual click wheel touch interface when they arrive during the first half of next year.

Runkle added that the body of the phones will be about one-fourth of an inch thick, a bit wider than an iPod nano, but also thinner than a video iPod. She said the devices will pack a "full screen LCD; 3.5 inch (28x21)" display.

Potentially bolstering the analyst's claims is a report on Broadcom released thursday by BMO Capital. In it, analysts for the firm said they believe the broadband chipmaker has recently secured a noteworthy design win for an "upcoming stealth phone," about to be "offered by a major consumer device company."

The firm's checks suggest the specific design win was for an SoC that will enable an onscreen touchpad feature for a new type of user interface for the phone. It added that the interface is likely to show up in next-generation media players as well.

In recent weeks, speculation regarding Apple's iPhone has reached absurd levels, making it nearly impossible for the company's shareholders to decipher fact from rumor from fiction. In one rampant rambling last week, an analyst for CIBC speculated that the device could see delays into the second quarter of 2007. The scare shook some investors, sending shares of the iPod maker on a multi-day skid.

That report, sources say, does not hold water.



Apple wird umsonst nach unten gedrückt, warum wohl....;-)

viel Glück

geht mir langsam deutlich zu weit. Niemand weiß was genaues aber alle tun so, als ob. Zum Beipsiel:

"iPhone offerings will arrive in two standard configurations -- a 4-gig and 8-gig"

Was soll das denn für eine Aussage sein? Wen bitte interessiert an einem Telefon die Speicherkapazität? Das sind einfach zwei Zahlen, die sich jeder ausdenken kann. Wenns am Ende 1 und 2 Gig wären, auch egal.

"feature a virtual click wheel touch interface"

Dass die Dinger ein Clickwheel haben, leuchtet ein, es ist das Aushängeschild des iPod-Erfolges, den man sicher ausnutzen will - kann man sich also denken. Den Rest kann man ( vollkommen ohne Kontakte in die Industrie) aus Apples Patentanträgen dazuerfinden, wenn man möchte.

Schon seltsam, wie sich der Hype um die Marke an sich auf die Börse überträgt. Dem Verbraucher soll das emotionale Handeln gegönnt sein, dem Börsianer sollten Fakten  etwas wichtiger sein. Die Blase, die hier entsteht kann ganz schnell zerplatzen, wenn im Januaar doch kein iPhone vorgestellt werden sollte. Und dann wird die Aktie leiden, obwohl Apple auch ohne iPhone derzeit prächtig dasteht.

Greetings

auch mal ne gute Nachricht bei Apple....;-)

Heute morgen:
bei dem kleinen Optionsschein

Optionsschein: Kursdaten (EUR) Alle Börsenplätze >>
Bid Ask Ask Vortag Veränderung
8,20   8,28   1,05   +688,57%
SmartTrading, Stand: 08:28

viel Glück

Greetings,

war natürlich nur ein Fehler bei etrade = consors.. mit 688%..leider

aber U Ende 1%

iPhone Geschichte verläuft sich
iTunes Geschichte verläuft sich
iHome wirft Schatten voraus (Verkauf Filme, etc)
Weihnachtsgeschâft...und
apple gräbt den PC's (keep an eye on DELl !!!)
langsam den rang ab

viel Glück

Greetings




Apple.com visitors up 21 percent this holiday season



According to data released this week by comScore Media Metrix, the iPod maker ranked No. 13 on a list of the Web's top 50 properties, catering to nearly 34 million surfers during the 30-day period.

For Apple, that marks a more than 21 percent increase in its web reach from December 2005, the last time comScore released Web activity data for months during holiday shopping period.

In December 2005, Apple ranked No. 17 on the list, having served up web pages to just under 28 million visitors.

Yahoo-, Time Warner-, Microsoft-, Google- and eBay-owned websites comprised last month's list of the top five most popular Web properties. They were followed by sites owned by Fox Interactive Media, Ask, Amazon, Wal-Mart, and the New York Times.

Just above Apple, ranking eleventh and twelfth respectively, were Viacom Digital and Wikipedia sites.

YouTube, one of this year's industry headliners, placed behind Apple at No. 18, reaching just shy of 25.5 million visitors last month

Planned Home PC Purchases Surge, Apple Closes On HP


By Gregg Keizer,

Consumer PC purchase intent is at the highest level since July, according to a monthly index tracked by Investor's Business Daily, and one of the big beneficiaries in the next six month will be Apple Computer.

The IBD/TIPP Home Computer Purchase Outlook index, which uses a 0-100 scoring system to measure buyer intent, jumped 17% to 23 in December from November. Only July's 23.4 had a higher mark in the last three years, Investor's Business Daily said.

An associated random telephone poll of over 1,000 Americans said that 27% were planning to buy a new home computer in the next six months; that was up from November's 22%.

Although Dell (at 43%) and Hewlett-Packard (13%) were voted the top-two brands among likely buyers in December, Apple's 12% was the highest since IBD began tracking it in mid-2003. On notebooks only, Apple tied HP at 15%; Dell remained the top draw there as well, accounting for 47% of the votes.

For Dell and HP, the release of Windows Vista in late January should prompt sales; to get through the holiday selling season, Microsoft and computer markers have been offering Vista upgrade coupons to those who buy PCs now.

Apple, which last updated one of its systems in November, often announces new laptop or desktop models at San Francisco's MacWorld, which will be held Jan. 9-12.

In other poll results, IBD said that 53% of likely buyers were looking for a notebook, rather than a desktop computer. A year ago, only 43% said they would probably buy a laptop. The new numbers track well with other analysts, including IDC, which earlier this week noted that notebook sales continue to drive the global PC market.  

Greetings

apple heute -4,9% wegen Optionsgerüchten

jetzt wieder bei -0,7

und Freitag kommen die verschobenen QT Zahlen raus

viel Glück

einen "faulen Apfel" im Depot hat,
und die aktuellen Kurse sind ja alles andere als schlechte Verkaufskurse.

News - 27.12.06 22:03
US-Börsenschluss: Apple-Aktien stürzen ab

Beruhigende Konjunkturdaten haben die Jahresendrally neu angefacht. Die Verkäufe von Neubauten waren unerwartet stark gestiegen und hatten Hoffnungen bekräftigt, der zuletzt schwache US-Immobilienmarkt habe die Talsohle hinter sich gelassen.


Der S&P 500 gewann 0,7 Prozent auf 1427 Punkte hinzu. Der Nasdaq Composite lag mit 2431 Punkten bei einem Plus von 0,7 Prozent. Die Umsätze waren erneut niedrig. Viele Marktteilnehmer sind im Urlaub.

Blass blieben nach der jüngsten Entwicklung im Verdacht wegen manipulierter Aktienoptionen Apple  -Papiere. Nach Informationen von US-Medien liegen den Behörden Dokumente vor, die für eine Anklage gegen den Computerkonzern wegen Missbrauchs von Optionen reichen könnten. Demnach sind die Papiere von Firmenvertretern gefälscht worden. Den Berichten zufolge hat Apple-Chef Steve Jobs mittlerweile einen privaten Anwalt angeheuert.





Mit Aufschlägen schlossen andere Technologieschlüsselwerte: Zu den Gewinnern zählten Intel  , Hewlett-Packard  und IBM  . Ford  -Titel profitierten von Gerüchten um eine Allianz mit Toyota  . Die Japaner hatten ein Treffen mit dem amerikanischen Konkurrenten bestätigt, was in US-Medien zu Spekulationen über Formen der Zusammenarbeit bis hin zur Übernahme von Ford führte. GM  -Papiere zogen ebenfalls an. In der Hoffnung auf gutes Nachweihnachtsgeschäft waren Einzelhandelswerte gefragt.


Von Christian Schwalb





Quelle: Financial Times Deutschland

News druckenName  Aktuell Diff.% Börse
Apple Computer, Inc. 81,52 +0,01% NASDAQ
FORD MOTOR CO 7,58 +1,20% NYSE
GEN MOTORS 30,59 +2,75% NYSE
HEWLETT PACKARD CO 41,60 +1,64% NYSE
Intel Corporation 20,40 +1,24% NASDAQ
INTL BUSINESS MACH 97,20 +1,61% NYSE
TOYOTA MOTOR CORP. Registered Shares o.N. 50,95 +1,80% Frankfurt

Ich zitiere einfach mal Dein Posting Nr 19:

"Blind sind alle die jetzt nicht verkaufen, und in ein paar Tagen und Wochen vor größeren Verlusten stehen".

Seither liegt AAPL 20 Prozent im Plus, zwischenzeitlich noch deutlich darüber. Wenn Du nun wieder wegen "fauler Äpfel" zum Verkauf räts, überleg ich mir doch glatt, meine Position aufzustocken. ;)

Andererseits: Sollte an den Gerüchten etwas dran sein, Jobs tatsächlich angeklagt werden und in Folge einer Verurteilung seinen Job verlieren, wäre das ein harter Schlag für den Konzern. Das Senior Management ist hier wie in kaum einem anderen Unternehmen in die Entwicklung neuer Produkte integriert. Solang Jobs et. al dabei sind, profitiert Apple zwar davon, ist aber gleichzeitig in gewissem Umfang davon abhängig. Die zittrige Reaktion auf solche "News" ist ein deutliches Zeichen dieser Abhängigkeit.

Apple is among the biggest names caught in a stock-option scandal that has widened to more than 190 companies. In June the maker of the iPod music player began an internal review of its grants, including one to Jobs. Apple said in October that it found 15 misdated grants from 1997 to 2002. The Recorder, a San Francisco-based legal newspaper, first reported yesterday on the discovery of possibly falsified documents related to options.

``We are providing all details regarding the internal independent investigation to the SEC and not commenting beyond that,'' Steve Dowling, an Apple spokesman, said by telephone.

John Nester, a spokesman for the SEC, refused to comment on the Financial Times article. Claude Stern, the partner in charge of the Redwood City, California, office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, the law firm hired by Apple's board to examine the grants, declined to comment.

Shares Fall

Shares of Cupertino, California-based Apple dropped 65 cents to $80.87 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading after falling as low as $79.65 earlier. The stock has gained 12 percent this year.

Jobs, 51, owns about 5.43 million shares of Apple, or 0.6 percent of the company, according to company filings with the SEC. The stake was worth $442 million at yesterday's closing price.

``The SEC has been looking very hard at these cases and they're working with the Department of Justice to put together criminal cases,'' said Bill Portanova, a former federal prosecutor in solo practice in Sacramento, California. ``When prosecutors are looking at something that they think is wrong in the first place, and they find paperwork in support of that thing that has been falsified, their appetite is whetted.''

When Apple released the results of its three-month investigation in October, it didn't disclose any falsified documents. The company said it found backdated option awards on 15 occasions from 1997 to January 2002. While Jobs was aware of some instances, he didn't benefit, Apple said.

Restatements Due

Apple promised to submit restatements for the third quarter ended July 1 and the year ended Sept. 30 by the end of December.

Backdating allows executives to inflate the value of the stock options by retroactively choosing grant dates when the underlying shares are lower. Restatements, revisions and charges have topped $5.7 billion among the companies that have corrected their results thus far.

Jobs apologized to shareholders in October after finding instances of favorable grants. Apple said at the time the actions of two unnamed former executives raised ``serious concerns.'' Former Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson, whose tenure included the five years when options were manipulated, resigned from the company's board.

While Jobs knew some options were backdated, he didn't benefit or understand the accounting, the company said. Apple added there has been no misconduct by current management.

U.S. Attorney

The Recorder said yesterday federal prosecutors are examining whether Apple officials falsified documents to inflate the value of grants. The fake documents were uncovered during the company's internal probe, and the information was passed on to the U.S. Attorney's office, the Recorder said, citing people familiar with the case.

Helen Yee, a Justice Department spokeswoman in San Francisco, didn't return a phone call seeking comment after normal business hours.

``How does it affect the timing, predictability or size of cash flow of Apple going forward? The only way it can is if they implicate Jobs in some way,'' said James Grossman, a fund manager at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans in Appleton, Wisconsin. The firm oversees $65 billion including Apple shares.

``The charges are serious,'' said Grossman. ``I'm going to stick with the original statement by the company that Jobs isn't a part of it.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Ian King in San Francisco at ianking@bloomberg.net ; Connie Guglielmo in San Francisco at cguglielmo1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 28, 2006 16:12 EST

Der Computerkonzern Apple hat die wegen Unregelmäßigkeiten bei Aktienoptionen korrigierten Geschäftszahlen präsentiert. Das Führungsgremium bezog auch Stellung zu seinem Verhältnis zu Firmenchef Steve Jobs.

Den Angaben zufolge sind die Auswirkungen auf das Geschäftsjahr 2006 gering. In der Erklärung hieß es zudem, das Führungsgremium habe volles Vertrauen in Firmenchef Jobs, der Medienberichten zufolge irreguläre Aktienoptionen erhielt. Apple teilte mit, Jobs habe in einigen Fällen über die Rückdatierung von Optionen Bescheid gewusst oder habe sie sogar empfohlen, habe jedoch keine finanziellen Vorteile daraus erhalten.

Die Börsianer zeigten sich erleichtert: Die Apple-Aktie kletterte vorbörslich um mehr als drei Prozent. In den vergangenen beiden Tagen hatten Medienberichte die Börsianer aufgeschreckt, denen zufolge bei Apple Dokumente zu Aktienoptionen gefälscht wurden.

Die Affäre könnte Jobs, der als Ikone unter den US-Konzernchefs gilt, im schlimmsten Fall den Job kosten. "Was wusste er und, wann wusste er es - darauf kommt es an", sagt Robert Heim, Wertpapieranwalt und ehemaliger SEC-Ermittler, der FTD. "Eine strafrechtliche Ermittlung erhöht das Risiko. Er braucht eine gute Erklärung für die Vorgänge um die Optionsvergabe."

Jobs ist der prominenteste Topmanager, der in den Skandal um rückdatierte Optionen verwickelt ist. Staatliche Ermittler in den USA prüfen die umstrittene Vergabepraxis bei mehr als 200 Unternehmen. Mit den Optionen erhalten die Empfänger das Recht, die Aktie zu einem bestimmten Preis zu kaufen. Durch eine Rückdatierung, etwa auf ein früheres Kurstief, können die Empfänger meist höhere Gewinne kassieren.

Gruß

uS

RT 3:37EU
+3,94% +3,16$ Bid 83,9  Vol 5,058,057+++

;-)

The maker of the iPod music player and Macintosh computers is one of the most prominent among some 200 companies that have come under scrutiny for backdating stock options. It's a widespread practice, especially in Silicon Valley, that involves pegging stock options to favorable grant dates in the past to boost the recipients' award.

The manipulation itself isn't necessarily illegal, but securities laws require companies to properly disclose the practice in its accounting and settle any charges that may result.

Dozens of companies have been forced to restate their earnings, erasing some of their earlier recorded profits, after their stock option shenanigans came to light.

Apple initiated its own stock options probe in June and delayed its quarterly report for the period ending July 1 and its annual report for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 as a result.

Apple said its investigation reviewed 42,077 stock option grants made on 259 dates between October 1996 and January 2003. Of those, 6,428 grants on 42 dates did not have the proper measurement dates, Apple said.

Of two option grants awarded to Jobs, one was improperly dated Oct. 19, 2001, with an exercise price of $18.03, instead of the correct date on Dec. 18, when Apple shares were trading at $21.01. That stock-option grant was for 7.5 million shares. Jobs later surrendered those options without exercising them and realized no financial benefit.

The special board meeting that was pegged to the Oct. 19 grant never occurred, the company said. "There was no evidence, however, that any current member of management was aware of this irregularity," Apple stated.

Though the probe exonerated current management, it did raise "serious concerns" with the stock-options accounting actions of two former officers.

Apple did not identify those officers. Speculation and media reports citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, however, have pointed to former Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson and former general counsel Nancy Heinen.

Anderson retired as Apple's CFO in 2004 yet remained a board member until he resigned in October after the internal inquiry. Heinen left Apple for unknown reasons in May, before Apple initiated its stock options probe.

Apple said it has provided the results of its internal review and independent investigation to the SEC and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California and has responded to their "informal requests" for documents and additional information.

The details of the findings Friday appeared to ease investor concerns that the options scandal would threaten Jobs. Shares of Apple went on a roller-coaster ride earlier in the week following media reports that federal investigators were looking into the falsification of documents and that Jobs had received an award of stock options in 2001 without proper board approval.

The nationwide stock options scandal has already led to criminal indictments and resignations of several executives.

But none is considered as well known or tied to their company's success and identity as Jobs. Wall Street analysts have largely shrugged off the impact of the scandal on Apple as long as the company's iconic co-founder and CEO was to remain unscathed.