Ralsky and his cohorts netted millions from pump and dump stock scams which were bolstered by their spamming. He pleaded guilty in June and will be serving time along with his son, who was sentenced to 40 months. [Ars Technica]

Apple Issues Update for Current-Gen iPod Nano

Apple quietly issued a firmware update for its newest, video-taking iPod Nano, and it's pretty minor but does fix a few problems. Audio podcasts can now be played back in Normal, Slow or Fast modes, and a few random bugs were patched (Nike+ integration, mono audio, VoiceOver). It's in Remainders because it really is a minor update—we wouldn't even bother with it except the Nano is such a ridiculously huge seller. [TUAW]

Barnes & Noble Giftcards Won't Buy Ebooks, Screwing Some Nook Pre-Orderers

Apparently Barnes & Noble's giftcards will buy you everything B&N sells—except ebooks. It's an inexplicable and irritating omission, but what makes it really rankle is that nobody seems to know about it, even those who work at the stores. Check out this story:

My wife and kids pre-ordered a nook for my birthday at our local B&N. The sales person also sold her a $100 gift card to "get my eBook collection started." When I tried to purchase a few books, I found out that gift cards can't be used on eBooks.

What a dick move! We're going to assume ignorance on B&N's part, but this is sloppy stuff, especially given our proximity to the holidays—their giftcards are incredibly popular and this will not be an isolated incident. Get it together, B&N. [Consumerist]

Dell Mini 3 Officially Launched in China

The Android-running Dell Mini 3 smartphone officially began its launch sequence today. It's been shipped out to sellers in China today, for release later this month, with a Brazil release to follow later this year. In early 2010 it should hit AT&T and Verizon—we'll see if we care by then. It's a noticeably low-key release, considering it's the first handheld in years from Dell, but it ends up in Remainders due to its current China-only status. [Electronista]

Palm Stock Skyrockets After Nokia Takeover Rumor

Palm stock skyrocketed today, with trading over 15 times heavier than normal, due to an odd rumor that Nokia would be buying the company. It doesn't really make any sense to us—Nokia is really unlikely to be purchasing a competitor to its Symbian line, and buying the beleaguered Palm would be a weird way to try to make gains in the US market. This one plops into Remainders because it's both unlikely and mere financial news, which isn't really that exciting. [Electronista]

U.S. regulators are examining Apple Inc.’s disclosures about Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs’s health problems to ensure investors weren’t misled, a person familiar with the matter said.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s review doesn’t mean investigators have seen evidence of wrongdoing, the person said, declining to be identified because the inquiry isn’t public.

Bloomberg News' David Scheer and Connie Guglielmo cite James Cox—a law professor at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina—to argue that the Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing the disclosures, since they're feeling the pressure from stock holders and public opinion. Needless to say, everyone is especially sensitive to the Commision's "work" in the light of the current economic climate and the latest scandals, like Madoff's alleged $50 billion fraud.

Back in December 30 2008, Gizmodo published an article about the rapid decline of Steve Jobs' health during 2008, citing a previously 100 percent reliable source.

The report, which caused Apple's shares to drop abruptly, was immediately answered live on CNBC by the network's Silicon Valley Bureau Chief Jim Goldman, who attacked Gizmodo's reporting, calling it "unsourced garbage," arguing that investors should keep buying the stock as normal because his inside sources told him that Steve Jobs was in "perfect health condition."

Right before the Macworld keynote, Jobs confirmed the problems in an open letter to the Apple community. He said that his doctors thought they got to the bottom of his health problems—a hormonal imbalance—and he recently had begun treatment to resolve the situation. He also said he would remain as CEO of the company until his total recovery in spring.

However, on Jan. 14, Jobs admitted his health problems were worse than he previously thought and stepped down from the CEO position, with Tim Cook taking over his seat "temporarily."

Bloomberg News argues that the chain of events is making some people question the way in which Apple has handled the disclosure of information that is believed to be crucial to the future of the company and, therefore, affects its value. [Bloomberg News]

The reason of the sudden swing was artificial, caused by a large chunk of computer-driven orders that pushed the values up, only to drop down again after these were processed. At least according to the Associated Press, which says that this early roller coaster was "likely caused" by these orders, which "kicked-in when prices had fallen far enough to make some stocks look like an attractive bet. But that buying reflected no lifting of the market's deep despair, and selling continued."

Oh noes. Maybe we should all cheer up and let computers run the whole thing for a while then. Or just send stocks to hell altogether. [AP — Thanks OMGponies]

If you add the Steve Jobs boom count (1 boom, 36 minutes into the presentation) to the number of hardware announcements (5-iPhone, touch, classic, nano & shuffle), then subtract the closing day stock price at WWDC '07 ($120.19) divided by the opening day stock price ($145.12), and then finally subtract our two cents, you get 5.15—the same as the percentage drop in Apple's stock today.

1+5-($120.19/$145.12)-.02=5.15 (rounded off)

See, we can be analysts too! [AAPL]

One thing we learned with the iPod is that when a device is game-changing, the demand will come...However, it is difficult to predict the inflection point. For example, in December 2004, Street expectations for iPod ran wild with investors anticipating 8 million iPods, but Apple only sold 4.6 million. It was feared at the time that the iPod would never go mainstream.

Conversations with investors over the past month suggest awareness of potential for iPhone units is high, but awareness of potential resulting impact to earnings is low...if Apple can sell 45 million units in CY09, the earnings power and historical multiple ranges suggest our price target is reasonable.