Apple announced an earnings warning due to a lack of G4 processors to use in its new professional desktop Macs, and suddenly the stars went out, the heavens fell, and the world imploded. Well, okay, maybe it wasn't that bad, but Apple's stock dropped ten points in a single day-- and while that still places its value at a level higher than it was just a few short weeks ago, a ten-point drop is never something to scoff at. Basically, Wall Street reacted to Apple's announcement of lower-than-expected profits the same way we'd react to an all-night, commercial-free "The Nanny" marathon: they ran screaming, figuratively speaking. "Sell" was the watchword of the day down on the trading floor, and once the day's carnage was over, just under thirty million shares had changed hands. That's a higher trading volume than Microsoft and Intel can boast.

So did the traders hideously overreact? Yeah, probably. After all, Apple's big problem is that too many people want to buy their product-- ooooo, that's awful. Plus, the Power Mac line (the only one affected by a G4 shortage) isn't even the reason Apple's shares were trading so high in the first place; what about the iMac? And the iBook, now shipping, with the first units having reached dealers already? It was Apple's rebound in the consumer market that made AAPL the darling of Wall Street, so why should a few backordered Power Macs cause such a selling frenzy? Especially since, according to the Mac Observer, none of the analysts downgraded the stock, and in fact more than one of them reiterated their "buy" rating, calling the price drop a "buying opportunity."

Seasoned AtAT viewers already know what we're getting at. Apple seems to have played up a relatively minor problem, when they must have known full well that Wall Street would overreact in its time-honored way. As faithful viewer Edward points out, there was that announcement of an Apple stock buy-back last July. Suppose they're only just now getting around to purchasing that half-billion dollars' worth of AAPL? It sure would be nice if the price were, say, ten bucks cheaper per share, right? Especially since once the iBook hits the shelves, the new iMac makes its debut, and Motorola gets its G4-producing butt in gear, that stock price is sure to rebound in a major way. Or maybe they were just trying to head off a stock split by keeping the price down, as others have surmised. Oh, sure, there's that whole little issue of stock price manipulation being illegal and all that (you can read a Mac OS Rumors report on the subject if you so desire), but hey, what's a little fraud between friends? Wild speculation is always much more entertaining than reasoned, well-thought-out explanations. Just ask Wall Street.