Apple Stock Drops After Another Steve Jobs "Poor Health" Rumor

You can predict it: anything negative about Steve Jobs, whether its his health, or (sometime) in the future, his retirement, and Apple stock tanks. There was yet another ill health rumor today, and you can probably see from the intraday stock graph above exactly when it hit the wire.

This rumor, from Gizmodo, stated that the reason Steve Jobs dropped out of Macworld was his declining health.

Steves health is rapidly declining. Apple is choosing to remove the hype factor strategically vs letting the hype destroy apple when the inevitable news comes later this spring.

This strategic loss will be less of a bang with investors. This is why Macworld is a no-go anymore. No more Steve means no more hype. Saying they are no longer needing [Macworld] is the cover designed by the worldwide "loyalty" department.

Actually, I in terms of Macworld, tended to believe the prior reason given, that Apple had plenty of other routes to highlight its announcements than trade shows. After all, Apple and IDG, who runs Macworld, have had a contentious relationship for some time.

On the other hand, Steve Jobs' health is a different matter. I don't necessarily believe Apple is being 100% up-front on that issue.

Now, according to Gizmodo, this source had been 100% reliable in the past. However, even they hedged their bets, saying:

This source has repeatedly been 100% correct before. Those times, however, were always related to news and images of unreleased Apple products.

Later in the day, Jim Goldman from CNBC checked with Apple, saying:

I was told two weeks ago by sources inside Apple that the decision had nothing to do with Jobs' health. I got the same message today. Period.

I will say again: if Apple is lying, holding some truth back, manipulating its own stock by manipulating the truth, someone — indeed a lot of people — could be going to jail. Do I like the way Apple has handled this ongoing story? No. But do I traffic in rumors to fill the void the company has created by not choosing to be more forthcoming about Jobs' health? Absolutely not.

While certainly not the sort of irresponsible behavior as exhibited in the iReport story which falsely claimed Steve Jobs had a heart attack, causing Apple stock to plummet, it's clear what CNBC thought of the rumor.

A commenter at Gizmodo called it irresponsible journalism, and to watch for a lawsuit. Now, the drop wasn't that drastic, but still. What do you readers think?

One thing's for sure: when a story about a tech CEO makes Perez Hilton's site, you know that CEO is the "rock star" that many claim him to be.