Apple stock nosedives

It's sinking fast in after-hours trading after the announcement by CEO Steve Jobs that he will be taking a medical leave of absence because of health issues that are more complex than initially thought. At the close of trading, Apple was at $85.33 a share, but it has since fallen to about $78. Over at Clusterstock, John Carney imagines that "somewhere, right now, a plaintiff lawyer is preparing to file a lawsuit against Apple on behalf of shareholders who will claim they were deceived by the company’s statements about the health of chief executive Steve Jobs." There must be all sorts of push and pull at Apple over how much to say and when to say it. While the company has been astoundingly inept about informing shareholders, the intransigence is likely the work of Jobs himself. Actually, it’s a good bet that only a few people know what’s really going on, which might explain the lack of leaks preceding today’s announcement.