Wall Street Folly

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S&P Downgrades GE but it could have been worse; The Sears Tower has a new name and tenant; Americans' net worth has largest drop in > 50 yrs of record keeping; New iPhone OS debuting 3/17!; Sirius XL in bid to expand audience by streaming to iPhone, iPod

Steve Jobs' letter to the troops

Turns out investors' fears were justified: Steve Jobs is taking a medical leave of absence to focus on his health

Sounds like Steve Jobs health is far worse than he's been letting on.  He announced that he's taking a medical leave of absense until June.  Jobs said recently that he has a  hormone deficiency which was responsible for his dramatic weight loss.  But per AP,  in a memo to his staff, he acknowledged that his health issues are more complex than he thought.

While the news is sad and we hope he recovers and returns, we can't say we're surprised.  We suspect that the stock will take it on the chin, down double digits.  How long before the lawsuits start to fly over how the company has handled  (or mishandled) the disclosure?   Pretty damned fast.

Apple CEO Jobs takes medical leave - AP

Addendum: The stock opened after the halt down around 10 points.

His Citigroup investment has gotten nailed and he's buying more, but how are the rest of Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's stock investments doing?

Well naturally, like everyone else, Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal is taking some major stock market lumps.  Here's what the charts look like:

Odd Lots: Steve Jobs is not dead; Lehman analyst's apology ; Jeff Matthews: The day the newspapers died

• Macabre: Bloomberg blunders by publishing Apple CEO Steve Jobs obituary, then retracts it - Gawker

 

Apple gets sued over iPhone bugs

Let the lawsuits begin: With all the reports of dropped calls from users of the Apple iPhone, it was inevitable that someone would sue.  And they have.  Jessica Alena Smith, from Birmingham Alabama filed suit in U.S. District Court in Alabama.  According to the San Francisco Chronicle:

Reports of iPhone cases cracking are surfacing

So much for using plastic for the cases of the new iPhone 3g. Hairline cracks seem to be developing in many of the units only a few weeks after the newest hot toy came out.  According to Apple Insider,

Those tracking the issue in an Apple support discussion thread and elsewhere say the hairline fractures most often appear on the plastic shell near the corners of the device, particularly near the headphone jack, ringer switch, and volume controls.

The flaws appear regardless of how gently the user takes care of the phone and can increase in number, according to multiple claims, although there are no known reports of existing cracks growing in size. At least a few users, however, report cracks deep enough to create a visible opening, particularly at the headphone jack.

iPhone 3G owners report hairline cracks in their phone's casing - Apple Insider

Apple CEO's health questions: NY Times "slime bucket" reporter "who gets most of his facts wrong" gets a call and a scoop from Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs finally said something about his health.  In a bizarre off the record conversation to a journalist he doesn't seem to respect a whole lot  -- Joe Nocera, at the NY Times -- Jobs apparently copped to an illness "a good deal more than a "common bug" in the Times' words, but not life threatening, nor a recurrence of cancer.  Will Steve Jobs' odd call Nocera put to rest the questions over the Apple CEO's health for now, or will people now question his mental health for giving a huge scoop to someone he disdains?  The whole thing is weird.  We wonder why he just didn't come clean on the record. The stock is down nearly $5 on the day....

Barron's sources say Apple has slashed internal expectations for iphone sales by up to 16%

If their sources are right, that's gonna leave a mark. Look out below on Monday.  The stock lost $3.79 in Friday's market rout, closing at $185.64.

But what the fanboys won't tell you -- as won't many unabashed boosters in the press -- is that the iPhone's production rollout is behind schedule. That's what a number of tech hedge-fund managers are saying, attributing their information to investigative research outfits that talk with engineers and supply-chain managers at the contract manufacturer and component suppliers in Asia. These sources say that Apple has slashed its internal expectations for iPhone unit sales by up to 16%. They report that Apple had planned to ship 12 million 3G units by the end of the third quarter, but now expects to ship about 10 million to 10.5 million by the fourth quarter, owing to production delays.