The long-running Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) fan site Think Secret is being shut down after almost three years of litigation and a confidential settlement. Nicholas Ciarelli, a 22- year-old Harvard student has been running the site since he was thirteen years old.

Think Secret's claim to fame was publishing top-secret information about upcoming Apple products before it was supposed to be made public. Apple unveils new products every January at its Macworld conference, and the race is always on in December to scoop Steve Jobs on his company's offerings.

And Think Secret apparently did an excellent job of tipping everyone off on Apple's secret plans. Apple filed suit to try to get the names of Ciarelli's sources.

At one point it seemed as if Ciarelli had the upper hand in the litigation. Apple filed suit on the basis that ThinkSecret was publishing trade secrets about Apple's strategic plans. Ciarelli's attorney, Terry Gross, filed a motion to dismiss the suit, citing First Amendment rights. Apple essentially stopped litigating at that point.

BloggingStocks has received an interesting tip that Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) might soon be announcing a 2-for-1 stock split. The tip (which we consider to be solidly in the rumor category), alleges that a 2-for-1 stock split will be voted on at the next Apple board meeting, and our tipster says materials are already prepared for the vote.

This rumor certainly rings of possible truth, as Apple's stock has been rocketing up in the past few weeks. Often stocks that rise this quickly are split. Many finance advisers believe that potential investors view a sub-$100 unit of stock as more 'buy-able.' Keeping the "unit" price low by splitting the stocks as they get above the $100 mark keeps investor excitement hot.

Apple's last split was in February of 2005, a 2-for-1 split like the two previous; on June 21st, 2000, and on May 15, 1987. These splits aren't common, but they do coincide with surges in stock price. Certainly it's reasonable to believe that, with the move of the stock price from under $20 to over $80 in the past two years, Apple might be thinking about a split in the near future.

Does a split by Apple sometime soon make sense? And would it spur you to invest if you could snag one share for $40?

Today was a big day for Apple on the market. Starting around 10:30am the stock began climbing until it ended up $3.10 to $71.48, a 4.53% leap in price. Why the solid leap? No doubt it's being driven up due to rife speculation about the impending movie download plans coming out this September 12th.

But before you get excited, realize that the excitement is being priced in. Apple stock has a history of dipping after announcements because the rumor mill either found out about it first, or because it wasn't the amazing product that Apple never said it was or was not going to deliver. Keep that in mind when watching the rumors fly.

Apple ended the day up $1.50 at $69.66, a 2.20 percent jump in share price. The stock is building on anticipation of new products being released at WWDC. As Grant Robertson points out, all the flying rumors should be taken with a grain of salt. If they're responsible for the flying stock price right now one should consider cooling one's investing heels until after WWDC. That way when the stock dips as products people were hoping would come out don't show up one isn't disappointed as well. That would be a conservative and smart thing to do, but I doubt it will stop eager speculators for now.

Nonetheless, it is nice to see the upward momentum and excitement when four weeks ago dire worries about flash ram and iPod stagnation were the more common news stories.

More news from Apple today includes more auto manufacturers like Mazda, GM, and Ford working with Apple to make iPods work in car stereo systems, hints of Apple stores in Melbourne and France, and tension between Apple and Scandinavia.

One reason Apple's stock price has been hammered lately is that a Wall Street analyst predicted that Apple would be unable to get a new generation of iPod out in time for back-to-school sales. Apple's stock price of late is tied very closely to performance of iPod sales.

Investors and consumers alike will be pretty psyched to see that ThinkSecret, one of the more prestigious Apple rumor sites, is reporting that a new iPod Nano will likely debut at next month's World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC).

The new iPod is expected to have a slightly larger capacity for songs, be in a metal alloy case to solve the scratching issues the Nanos have been dogged with, and be available in a series of colors.

In some ways the update doesn't sound like that much. Yet don't underestimate the importance of the scratch issue for Apple customers. Having a $150 device that is purchased for its stylish good looks start looking like a two-year-old scratched up piece of junk after it has been in a purse or pocket for a few weeks is not what Apple fans expect.

It's only halfway through the day, and Apple stock is up almost 64 cents, a 1.22 percent increase.

[Disclosure: I own Apple stock at the date of this post]

[Pic credit: Dan Taylor]