Technology

Options Take Bigger Bite Out of Apple

 

And whether Jobs benefited from backdated options may be immaterial if federal regulators come calling. Regulators have indicated that they are focusing more on whether insiders defrauded investors in how they disclosed or accounted for backdated options than whether they profited from them.

For instance, the criminal charges federal officials recently filed against former executives at Brocade (BRCD) came despite the fact that neither of the executives was accused of benefiting from the backdating that led to the charges.

The companies caught up in the backdating scandal are accused of issuing to insiders options to buy company stock at prices that were known weeks or months after the fact to be near-term lows.

Although backdating by itself isn't necessarily against the law, investigators are trying to determine whether companies defrauded investors either by not properly disclosing backdated grants or by not accounting for them properly.

Investors have blamed the recent selloff in technology stocks in part on the broader backdating probe and the constant trickle of new backdating allegations.

>To order reprints of this article, click here: Reprints

TheStreet Premium Services

Jim Cramer
Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS:
Trade right alongside a Wall Street pro — enjoy access to his Charitable Trust portfolio and be sent trade alerts BEFORE he makes a move. Learn More
OptionsProfits
OptionsProfits:
Get 50+ trade ideas a week from the industry's top options experts. Plus — exclusive commentary on market trends and essential trading tools. Learn More
Real Money
Real Money:
Our team of professional Wall Street Pros — including Jim Cramer, Doug Kass, and Nicholas Vardy — delivers intelligent analysis, timely trade ideas, and colorful commentary. Learn More
Stocks Under $10
Stocks Under $10:
Break into the market with small- and mid-cap stocks... all $10 or less! David Peltier tells you exactly which low-priced stocks he's buying and selling. Learn More
To begin commenting right away, you can log in below using your Disqus, Facebook, Twitter, OpenID or Yahoo login credentials. Alternatively, you can post a comment as a "guest" just by entering an email address. Your use of the commenting tool is subject to multiple terms of service/use and privacy policies - see here for more details.
blog comments powered by Disqus
Dow Jones S&P 500 NASDAQ 10-Year Note
12,419.86 1,313.32 2,837.36 16.25
Oil *
103.00
DOWN
160.83
DOWN
19.10
DOWN
33.63
DOWN
1.06
10 Yr
1.62%
SPDR Gold
151.91
-1.28%
-1.43%
-1.17%
-6.12%
Data delayed 20 minutes

Top Stories and Tools

Articles From

After the Bell

Before the Bell

Booyah! Newsletter

Midday Bell

TheStreet Top 10 Stories

Winners & Losers

We respect your privacy.
Podcasts

Connect with TheStreet