[Kerrigan]

[FONT=Verdana,Sans-Serif] LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) said on Thursday it would likely need to restate earnings and will delay filing its quarterly report because of additional irregularities it found in its accounting of stock options and its shares fell 6.6 percent.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana,Sans-Serif] Apple first announced on June 29 that it was conducting an internal probe into irregularities related to stock option grants, hired an independent counsel to conduct its own investigation of the irregularities and notified the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana,Sans-Serif] Apple, maker of the iPod digital music player and Macintosh computer, is now among the most high-profile companies caught up in a stock options scandal that has swept through the technology industry. The SEC has more than 80 investigations underway to determine if companies manipulated the prices of stock options given to executives.[/FONT]


[FONT=Verdana,Sans-Serif]http://finance.myway.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp?section=news&feed=bus&src=202& amp;news_id=bus-wen3356&date=20060803[/FONT]


Way to throw a damper on the WWDC. Hopefully this won't hurt Apple's stock any more than it already has.

[C.A.T.S. CEO]

[Spliffdaddy]

That's gonna leave a mark.

[The Godfather]

This will be bummer for those MacNN'rs who put all their eggs in the AAPL basket.

[Kerrigan]

Some executives are going to jail for this. Jobs isn't expected of any foul play and let's hope it stays that way... imagine what would happen if they locked him up!

[amsalpemkcus]

"American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu believes only a small portion of those profits might disappear. Wu estimates Apple's stock option expenses for the past seven quarters have ranged from 3 cents to 6 cents per share -- while the company's earnings have been much higher, ranging from 34 cents to 65 cents per share.

While Apple hasn't explained exactly how it mishandled stock options, most of the problems at other companies so far have involved "backdating."

Under this practice, insiders try to make the rewards more lucrative by retroactively pinning the option's exercise price to a low point in the stock's value. Usually, an option's exercise price coincides with the market value at the time of a grant, to give the recipient an incentive to drive the price higher.

If companies backdate options without accounting for the move, it can cause profits to be overstated and taxes to be underpaid. It also exposes companies to possible fraud charges.

Much of the angst about Apple centers on whether the stock option headaches will distract Jobs or land him in legal trouble."

http://www.napavalleyregister.com/ar...iq_3546514.txt

Probably not so serious that the investors will try to sue the board.

[turtle777]

Only the beginning. Expect dozens of big companies to follow. This is the next big "Enron" thing for corporate America.

-t

[Spliff]

Some insider info on Apple's messed up corporate culture and how it hurts Apple:

The kiss up culture of Apple and why it matters

[Spliffdaddy]

"You might want to ask yourself why Apple's head legal person recently left Apple"

hmm.

[amsalpemkcus]

Originally Posted by Spliff

Some insider info on Apple's messed up corporate culture and how it hurts Apple:

The kiss up culture of Apple and why it matters

Man! that is one corrupt culture at the top! Never thought it was so bad. From the outside Apple looks like it does everything the right way, who would have thought the management is so up!