Apple after the bell 08/21/06: lots of negative options press dogging the stock

Posted Aug 21st 2006 4:53PM by Tobias Buckell
Filed under: After the Bell, Industry, Apple Inc (AAPL)

Apple ended the day at $66.56, down $1.35 and almost 2%. Not the most dramatic of Apple's rough days, but certainly a bit of a bump downwards. Bloomberg reported this morning on the investors suit against Apple over the stock options, which is still generating a lot of negative press for Apple.

Also, the recent news that Apple's Chinese laborers are not being used as near slave laborers is a bit pyrrhic: it vindicates Apple's claim that their overseas conditions for workers are not near-slave labor as was claimed by reporters several months earlier, but it still keeps the fact that Apple uses Chinese laborers front and center in the news. Lots of other companies do this, Apple is not unique, but there are many consumers and investors who are turned off by this. Add to that the fact that there are some minor violations being quibbled about, and Apple isn't being focused on as a provider of cool hardware. And that's where the company shines.

Tobias Buckell is a freelance blogger, futurist, and author who grew up in the Caribbean. He owns shares in Apple.

Tags: apple backdated options, AppleBackdatedOptions, chinese manufacturing, ChineseManufacturing, stock options, StockOptions